Two Can Play This Game
by saunatonttu
Summary: Byakuran has a younger brother named Ghost, who now shares a class with Shouichi and is intent to get to know the redhead better despite apparent disapproval from his elder brother. This can't possibly end well. M for later chapters. Will include incest. 10051Ghost. University AU.
1. Prologue

**title:** Two Can Play This Game

**rating**: M, due to the sexual aspect in some of the later chapters.

** characters:** Irie Shouichi, Byakuran, Ghost, various others as story progresses

**pairing:** 10051Ghost - including 10051, Ghost51, and some ByakuranGhost, possibly hinted others

**warnings:** story WILL include some incest, sexual themes

* * *

Prologue

* * *

"I didn't know you had a brother, Byakuran-san."

Byakuran raised his head from his chocolate parfait at that, white bangs falling over his eyes before he flicked them away with his hand. Curiosity glowed in his peculiarly purple eyes as he looked at his red-haired companion who was looking at elsewhere, away from Byakuran.

"Hm, I have had one for the past nineteen years, Shou-chan," Byakuran replied, his voice drawled out lazily, bringing out his Italian accent that made the girls and guys alike swoon.

(He was not kidding. There was this guy who fainted when his Italian accent came out accidentally, leaving Byakuran to stare at the unmoving body and wonder whether the guy had dropped dead on him.)

'Shou-chan' rolled his forest green eyes at his friend's words, still looking at the long figure sitting at a table a few tables away from them. The blond, wave strands framed his face that was pointed down towards the book he was reading, and Shouichi was almost sure (he couldn't tell from this distance) that the book was William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the one he and his class had to study for one of their mandatory English courses.

"He's on my English class," Shouichi commented idly as he finally withdrew his eyes away from the lonesome figure and turned to Byakuran completely. "Imagine my surprise when I learn that he's your brother." Shouichi's eyes narrowed accusingly at Byakuran, displeasure evident on the other's face. "Especially considering that you told me you had no siblings."

Byakuran gave a crooked smile at Shouichi's irritation as he nibbled on his parfait. Chocolate parfait was the best snack during these afternoon breaks, he thought idly as he too spared a glance towards the figure not too far from them – his younger brother.

"Hmm, well, Ghost-kun and I aren't on very good terms, so I guess I didn't want to talk about it?" Byakuran said casually, not the least bit bothered by Shouichi's frown. Instead, he leaned forward and pressed his finger to the corner of Shouichi's lips and lifted the lips up into a smile. Byakuran was smiling, too; it was one of his omnipresent facial features that Shouichi had still not grown quite used to. If anything, those unreadable smiles unnerved him more than the redhead would like to admit even to himself.

Especially when Byakuran said such... saddening things with one of those smiles on his lips.

"I thought we were friends," Shouichi grumbled, idly poking at the helping of ice cream on the small ceramic bowl with a spoon. A small break from studying and classes with Byakuran was a normal thing by now – an everyday thing, if you will. The athletic, well-built student was impossible to say no to, and Shouichi knew this thanks to the hundreds of times he had tried to say no. Sometimes Byakuran was willing to let it go, but when he was insistent, Shouichi found it hard to resist and argue with his friend. It was like trying to walk in quicksand – impossibly tiring and mostly in vain.

Byakuran poked at Shouichi's cheek some more, ignoring the scolding look the redhead was giving him, and his smile softened – it always did around Shouichi, or _Shou-chan_ as Byakuran affectionately called his best and dearest friend.

"Like I said, Shou-chan," Byakuran murmured, finger moving up on Shouichi's cheek, "I didn't want to talk about Ghost-kun. It would be the same thing as talking about Mukuro-kun, you know? Just as fruitless and just as annoying~."

Shouichi sighed as he slapped Byakuran's hand away from his cheek before scooping up some ice cream and eating, the green eyes inspecting Byakuran for a moment before they trailed over to Ghost's desolate form.

Shouichi normally minded his own business, staying away from other people's, but this curiosity bubbling in the back of his mind couldn't be suppressed with his usual self-control. Byakuran's younger brother. His classmate in English.

"Well," Shouichi started, unwillingly returning his eyes to Byakuran again as the spoon hung from his mouth, "I guess I see your point." He still had to wonder why Byakuran seemed to resent his younger brother enough to avoid talking about him – enough to actually compare Ghost to Rokudo Mukuro, the person Byakuran was constantly at odds with.

Byakuran seemed quite pleased with this response and he pulled his hand back to its former place. "Mm, Ghost-kun is a little strange on the head, so... Shou-chan, could you promise to stay away from him?" the older student questioned idly and easily as if he weren't asking for Shouichi to limit his possible social cycle – at least that was what Shouichi's sister would snort as she was rather fond of the concept of personal freedom.

"I don't think you have any right to say that about someone, Byakuran-san..." Shouichi stated blankly, scooping up the last of his ice cream portion and bringing the spoon to his lips.

"You're so mean to me, Shou-chan!" Byakuran declared, his lips forming a pout as his tongue flicked the chocolate off from his lips as Shouichi stared from across the table with a small and undeniably fond but exasperated smile.

"Byakuran-san, I was just stating a fact..."

Neither of them noticed that the person they had spared a few glances a few moments earlier lifted his head, long blond locks of hair sliding over his broad shoulders at the movement, and inquisitive but dull purple eyes looking in their direction. To be more precise, those eyes were locked in one individual in particular – Irie Shouichi, the red-haired engineering student with whom he shared an English class on Wednesday mornings.

"Irie Shouichi..." Ghost murmured to himself, lips moving slowly as he tasted the word on his tongue just as jovial laughter from Shouichi reached his ears. The firm line of Ghost's lips softened, a corner of them rising up into a tiny smile.

So, that was the person his elder brother had set his eyes on...

And now, so had Ghost.


	2. Rumor Has It

**title:** Two Can Play This Game, chapter 1

**characters:** Irie Shouichi, Byakuran, Ghost, Tsuna

**summary:** Slow beginning, and Shouichi's in for a surprise.

**notes:** Yeah, this starts veeery slowly.

* * *

**Chapter 1:** Rumor Has It

* * *

Wednesday mornings were notoriously horrible for Irie Shouichi. His roommate knew this. His best friend knew this. Almost _everyone_ knew this.

He was fairly sure his English professor also knew this, which was why Shouichi was equally sure that she was a sadist and enjoyed pushing him during morning classes by making him answer rhetorical questions and pointing out the obvious, often during which he froze and just stared at her until she'd get an evil eye and scold him for not knowing the obvious.

She was stern, this Lal Mirch.

Today, however, it seemed like she was willing to let him off easily out of pity – or maybe it was because recently she had found a new victim to terrorize: Sawada Tsunayoshi, a meek-looking brunet whose catchphrase seemed to be some sort of choked half-shriek.

Shouichi would have felt bad for Tsunayoshi – he liked the brunet, really – if it weren't for the fact that his suffering at least made Lal Mirch leave the redhead himself alone to his thoughts and mental wrestling with English language.

"Sawada!"

...That was the cue that Tsunayoshi had failed to answer her long and rambling question about Hemingway, and Shouichi sighed before sparing a glance at the student flinching on his seat a few rows away from the redhead.

Shouichi briefly wondered whether the exchange students really _needed_ to know about Hemingway, not for the first time during this term that seemed to go on and on, never reaching an end.

"Y-yes?" Tsunayoshi's almost frightened squeak made sympathy well up in Shouichi, and he offered a tiny, apologetic smile as he was painfully aware that the brunet had taken the role Shouichi had previously had. Tsunayoshi (or Tsuna, as he was more commonly known) didn't seem to notice, though.

Lal Mirch huffed at the stammered reply. "Grow a pair, first of all. You sound as manly as a whimpering mutt, Sawada." Tsuna's face flushed at that, and the brunet adjusted himself behind his desk, clearly unsure how to feel about this verbal abuse.

"Secondly, learn some facts. There's no fucking way Hemingway wrote _The Yellow Wallpaper._" The stern indigo-haired woman cast a bored glance throughout the whole class. "And everyone who thought that Stephenie Meyer wrote _Harry Potter -_series, get the hell out of my classroom this instant."

Cue some confused blinking and a few hushed whispers of 'she didn't write that?' earned an evil eye from Lal Mirch, which screamed bloody murder without her having to open her mouth even once. Silently, some of the students stood up and wandered towards the exits of the large classroom, leaving the class with expressions fit for Greek comedies.

Lal Mirch released a sigh after the doors had closed audibly, her hand on her face; it was as if she was suffering from a severe case of having to deal with bullshit.

...To be honest, that was more than close to being the truth, Shouichi mused as his eyes flickered back to his notebook and the scribbled notes. This particular class was full of rowdy people, and it took a patience of a saint's just to be able to deal with them without at least once losing one's temper.

Lal Mirch, as it had been proven on several occasions, was not a saint nor did she have the patience of one.

"Anyway," Lal Mirch eventually cleared her throat, the scowl on her face smoothing down into a something that could be considered a neutral expression, although the corners of her lips were still twitching ominously. "We got yet another transfer student from Italy." She swept some of her indigo hair off her shoulders and face, her burn mark now more visible. "I hope you have prepared your stuff, Ghost."

_Ghost? _Shouichi raised an eyebrow as he glanced around the classroom, as did several others in attempt to locate this new student. What kind of name was that- Was it Halloween already? Ah, no, it was not even April yet, so they were nowhere near Halloween.

Shouichi immediately pitied the child whose parents had decided to baptise him (or her?) as Ghost. It took a certain amount of unjustified hatred for anyone to name their children after a supernatural phenomenon that did not even exist.

(Then again, Castiel was getting more popular as a name these days.)

Shouichi's eyes stopped wondering when he noticed the lonely figure sitting a desk or two away from him – and he had to wonder how come he hadn't noticed him before. The person in question had long, wavy blond hair models could only dream of: silky-looking locks straight from L'Oreal commercial, that's how the flowy strands looked like.

The almost translucent, pale skin _glowed _in the pale sunlight that trickled into the room through the large double-paneled windows, adding to the ethereal appearance more.

Shouichi was startled away from his inward musings when the male (clearly, distinctly a male even despite the hair any hair-enthusiast would envy for) stood up, the screech that came from the chair's legs moving against the floor making the students all over the room flinch more or less conspicuously.

"Yes, I have, sensei." The deep baritone of Ghost's voice sent collective sighs of admiration through the male population of the room and sighs of attraction through the female population.

Shouichi, as it was, was somewhere between those two cases.

"Good." Lal Mirch was stoically unimpressed, as she was most of the time. The only exception, rumors said, was the handsome senior with the palest baby blue eyes anyone had ever seen.

Bring him up in her vicinity, and she would punch you. Hard.

"Get on with it, then... and girls, keep your panties on. It's class time."

Awkward burst of chuckles erupted in the classroom, and Shouichi smiled a little bit, though his eyes detoured back to Ghost every once in a while throughout the remaining time.

There was something disturbingly familiar about the other, and he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

It was maddening to his curiousity-infected mind.

* * *

The mystery of Ghost was solved during the lunch break Shouichi spent with Tsuna – way quicker than Shouichi had expected to, and to be honest he had forgotten Ghost almost immediately after the morning class, but now Tsuna had brought the topic up again.

"Shouichi-kun, did you know that Ghost-san is actually Byakuran's younger brother?"

Shouichi, who had been eating a ham sandwich, nearly choked on pieces of salad that had entered his mouth moments before. It took a few painfully long moments before he managed to clear his throat well enough to actually speak without accidentally choking on any remnants of food.

"How- Why-" Shouichi wasn't sure which was the more appropriate start for the myriad of questions he felt pouring from his mind. His green eyes reflected the confusion he felt, and Tsuna gave a sympathetic smile at that.

"I know," the brunet started, absent-mindedly poking on his bento as he continued. "It's so weird. Byakuran never said anything about that, did he? And to think that his brother is just as..." Tsuna's cheeks flushed as he tried to come up with a word that would adequately describe the Gesso brothers.

Shouichi had no doubt what kind of word Tsuna was looking for. "Good-looking?" he assisted reluctantly. Even though he had only seen Ghost's face partially when the younger Gesso had turned to side-eye him during the class, Shouichi could tell the other shared Byakuran's delicate facial shape that was sort of attractive to guys and girls alike. _Sort of. _Shouichi tried not to acknowledge this fact too much, but it was hard when the majority of the time he spent with Byakuran was interrupted by girls coming to ask Byakuran out for dates, which Shouichi found outrageous.

...Yes, he was the old-fashioned type.

Tsuna flushed a deeper shade of red before nodding. "I... don't get me wrong, I'm not crushing on him or anything, but-"

Shouichi raised a hand as a sign for Tsuna to stay silent. "It's alright, Tsunayoshi-kun. It's not the first time I'm hearing this." Besides, even he had to admit it... Byakuran was drop-dead-gorgeous with his silky, unruly hair and unnaturally bright eyes that often glimmered with mischief and promises of trouble and adventures.

Really, Byakuran had mastered the art of bedroom eyes, and he liked casting _that _look to people, mostly to mess with their poor, muddled minds.

So, it wasn't surprising that Tsuna too noticed Byakuran's looks. Everyone did, one way or another.

"And besides, why would I be bothered even if you were crushing on Byakuran-san?" Shouichi added as his hands took the glass of apple juice and brought it to his lips with one smooth movement.

Tsuna's caramel-colored eyes blinked at the words, and the brunet shifted on his seat with a soft, undeniably awkward chuckle leaving his mouth, and for a moment Shouichi wondered what was up-

"I just... you two... are sort of..." Tsuna mumbled, scratching at the side of his neck as he stared down at his own glass as he picked on his lunch. "You just seem to get along so well, so I figured..."

Shouichi nearly dropped his sandwich at the implications clearly audible in the other's tone, and his eyes widened behind his thick-framed glasses. Was Tsuna insinuating what he thought he was-?

Oh, God, _no._

"Best friends, Tsunayoshi-kun," Shouichi said slowly as he placed his glass down carefully before moving to rub at his temples as he could feel a headache approaching. Sure, he knew that from an outsider's point of view his and Byakuran's relationship might look... a little dubious and questionable, but to think that even Tsunayoshi thought that...

Shouichi's stomach churned at the thought uneasily as he frowned lightly at Tsuna. "I'm just as good friends with Spanner, and no one ever assumes we're gay for each other, so I don't know why this is so different." Shouichi huffed softly his cheeks grew darker out of weak exasperation and embarrassment.

Tsuna lowered his head, probably out of shame. "I'm sorry, but sometimes Byakuran looks at you like... he wants to... eat you up, Shouichi-kun."

"He must have looked at someone else that time," Shouichi denied quickly before resuming with his half-finished sandwich, eyes darting to the side of the cafeteria where Byakuran lounged with his own group of... well, _lackeys_ would be too cruel... but _friends _didn't seem to exactly cut it, either.

Followers, maybe, would be closer to truth...

Shouichi's eyes narrowed at the sight of one teal-haired young man leaning closer to Byakuran from across the table, apparently to murmur something not meant for other people's ears.

There was nothing unusual with it, and Shouichi didn't mind the playful manner Byakuran treated everyone – getting jealous over something like that would have implied something rather disconcerting about his own feelings for the fellow student, after all.

They were friends, and Shouichi would love to keep it that way as long as he could – Byakuran was known for getting into new social circles after a while of wasting time in another.

His stomach churned again at that thought, his lips curling down in response as well. "Anyway, Tsunayoshi-kun, that's a really bad joke."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" Tsuna started sheepishly, apologetically, after swallowing a piece of his bento. "I guess I listen to the gossip too much..."

_Gossip. _Oh, God, was there _gossip_ about Byakuran and Shouichi?

The redhead nearly choked on the pieces of bread still in his mouth, for the umpteenth time during this relatively simple conversation.

"Anyway..." Shouichi cleared his throat. "You were saying something, Tsunayoshi-kun?"

"Ah, yeah," Tsuna seemed to snap back to normal, visibly relieved that Shouichi wasn't mad at him for his earlier words. "I heard about it from Gokudera-kun. Apparently he used to go to the same school with both Byakuran and Ghost-san back in Italy when he was younger, that's why he knows them." Tsuna smiled a little bit at his own words, eyes glazing. "Gokudera-kun seemed really freaked out by Ghost-san coming here, though..."

_Gokudera-kun, huh?_ Shouichi mused to himself, feeling a drop of cold sweat rolling down his neck at the mention of the trigger-happy Italian whose nature was just as explosive as dynamites were.

Shouichi sighed. "I wonder why Byakuran-san kept something like that from me, then." It bothered him, more than he had expected it to, to know that Byakuran had a younger sibling of whom Byakuran had never talked to him.

It shouldn't, Shouichi knew, but _he _himself had spent several occasions talking to Byakuran about his own family, about how his sister liked to torture him with the most ridiculous things, about his mother and father...

"Why is that?" Shouichi blinked, thinking back to the English class, to that glimpse he had caught of Ghost. "He seems a lot more... manageable than Byakuran-san." From his behavior in the class, Shouichi had deduced him to rather calm and collected – and, most importantly, _well-behaved, _unlike his brother who seemed to love attracting trouble and noise wherever he went.

Tsuna shrugged weakly. "Gokudera-kun just kept calling him a creep, but he didn't mention the reason for that." The brunet laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, Shouichi-kun, I don't really know. It didn't seem like I should ask about it, you know...?"

Shouichi nodded, showing that it was alright.

"Oh, and Ghost-san has that same tattoo as Byakuran," Tsuna added as an afterthought, humming out loud as he had finished his bento box and the apple juice. He poked under his own right eye, demonstrating his following words. "It's under his right eye, though." Tsuna's eyes flashed with worry as he leaned over the table slightly to whisper, "You don't think he's a delinquent, do you?"

Shouichi almost snorted at that question in amusement before he took a moment to think. "Well... he apparently _is _Byakuran-san's brother..." he trailed off as if that was more than enough of an answer.

And, really, knowing Byakuran... it was.

* * *

He usually spent afternoon breaks with Byakuran, and this was no different. The only difference was that Shouichi couldn't manage to concentrate on the wonderful feeling of ice cream melting in his mouth – instead, his mind wandered even after they had briefly discussed Ghost, and Byakuran noticed this.

"Still thinking about Ghost-kun?" They had already discussed this only moments prior to this one, and Shouichi shook his head defiantly at the question.

"Not particularly..." he murmured, though it was a lie.

Byakuran, naturally, saw through it, and his lips curled up into a pout. "Shou-chan, I think I'm getting jealous. You're thinking of another guy in my company..." Playfully, Byakuran reached over the table and pinched Shouichi's cheek lightly... before letting go and running a thumb over the skin and smoothing the wrinkles.

Shouichi tensed up at the touches, flincing at the pinch and frowning at the caressing movements against his cheeks.

It was stuff like this that made people assume they were infatuated with each other, Shouichi thought to himself as he brushed Byakuran's hand off quickly as he hoped that no one had seen it.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, a certain younger brother of certain someone _had_ seen the teasing touches, and delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly on a face eerily similar to Byakuran's.

"Hands to yourself, Byakuran-san," Shouichi reminded the other patiently as he pushed the utensils away as he no longer needed them. Nevertheless, the warmth flooding his cheeks was not convincing, and Byakuran's widening smirk told him that much.

"It's not like you mind, Shou-chan," Byakuran teased, his eyelids sliding halfway down and creating the very typical, seducing expression Byakuran wore all too often. Bedroom eyes, as Shouichi liked to call this particular look. _Predatory_ was also a good word to use for that particular look – those eyes boring into him, staring at him like they could see into his soul.

If he weren't so used to Byakuran, he would feel uncomfortable under the close scrutiny and the looks Byakuran often gave him.

Well, they still made his stomach squirm uneasily, so perhaps he wasn't so used to them as he had thought.

"Do you?" Byakuran questioned, pulling Shouichi away from his inward musings.

"Personal space, Byakuran-san, is an important concept to me," Shouichi stated slowly as he finally swatted the offending hand away from his face.

Byakuran snickered as he retracted his hand, his eyelids sliding shut completely as his lips curved into a brilliant smile.

"That's not a _no_, Shou-chan," he teased – with that infuriating, knowing tone that made Shouichi's skin crawl either in exasperation or worry; it was hard to distinguish between those two emotions sometimes.

"...Shut up, Byakuran-san."

Really, they were just friends.

_Really._

* * *

When he finally returned to his dorm room after the last class, which had been physics, Shouichi felt inexplicably exhausted, and a headache was pounding in his head.

Maybe Verde-sensei shouldn't be allowed to conduct any experiments during classes if they always ended with chemicals wafting through the already stuffy air, making the students dizzy and achy.

Well, those protests wouldn't have much of an effect, Shouichi mused to himself as he unlocked the door to his dorm room with one swift, smooth movement before entering the sanctity of his dorm room...

...only to blink in surprise at the cardboard boxes lined up against the wall on his right.

There were a few of them, not that many, and Shouichi's mind momentarily failed him as he tried to figure out just what-

"Hello."

The smooth, rich baritone made Shouichi freeze for a moment – his heart jumping up all the way to his throat or so it felt – before he slowly raised his gaze from the boxes, only to have yet another jolt in his chest when he saw just who was standing before him.

"Ghost-san," Shouichi uttered, surprise evident in his widened eyes and stiff posture that refused to relax under Ghost's scrutiny. "What are you doing in my dorm room-?"

To call it a room would be understatement as there were several rooms packed tightly together: a kitchen, bathroom, plus a separate bedroom with enough room for two. Naturally there was this small hallway leading up from the entrance to the kitchen, and this hallway was where both of them were now standing and staring at each other as early evening sunlight trickled through the windows in the kitchen.

Ghost stared at him expressionlessly, head cocked slightly to a side and long blond hair partially hanging over his shoulders. The eerily familiar purple eyes scrutinized Shouichi, who felt immensely uncomfortable under such unreadable gaze, and for the briefest of moments, something flashed in the depths of Ghost's eyes. Something that Shouichi couldn't quite place...

"I'm your new roommate."

Ghost's lips moved, but Shouichi wasn't sure if he heard him correctly over the sound of his heart pounding loudly in his own chest for reasons he didn't even want to think of. Fear, possibly... Anxiety was closer, perhaps.

"I... Excuse me?"

Ghost's lips quirked up slightly in what seemed to be vague amusement, but it disappeared as soon as Shouichi had noticed the small lift of his lips. It couldn't have been called a smile, really.

"I'm your roommate, Shouichi-kun," Ghost repeated gently, softly, and Shouichi couldn't help but feel perturbed by the tenderness of that voice that came from someone who looked so much like Byakuran, if the hair was forgotten and how the tattoo was on the wrong side of the face.

Speaking of the tattoo... Shouichi's eyes shifted slightly, taking in the sight of Ghost's face and scrutinizing it just as Ghost was doing to him.

The three connected triangles under Ghost's eyes were just as purple as Byakuran's and just as noticeable and the triangle parts stretched over to Ghost's cheekbones.

Shouichi briefly wondered if the tattoo had been Ghost copying Byakuran – but then again, Byakuran had claimed that they weren't on exactly good terms with each other so that was unlikely...

The honorific added to his name made Shouichi's stomach tingle, or maybe it was the surprisingly deep voice reverberating from Ghost's throat that sounded oddly monotonous at the same time.

"Ah," Shouichi said unintelligibly, blinking as he dropped his bag next to one of the bigger boxes. "Do you need help with those?"

Oh, wait, there was a better question, he thought. "Did someone tell you my name?"

Ghost stepped aside lightly, surprisingly agile for someone as muscular as he was. "I was told I would share this complex with you," he explained quietly and with no-nonsense tone, which continued surprising Shouichi a little bit every time Ghost opened his mouth. "And I asked who my roommate would be," Ghost added as he bowed his head apologetically. "I'm sorry if it seems like I'm being intrusive."

Despite the culture he had grown into, Shouichi didn't know how to react to this politeness, and he just stared at Ghost's lowered head rather dumbly.

"It's fine, Ghost-san, I don't mind. I would have asked the same if I were you..."

This time, Ghost did smile at him... and he did so surprisingly _warmly_.

"So, uh, did you need help with those?" Shouichi added quickly, trying to hide just how flustered he felt by the charming smile on Ghost's face. _Get a grip, _he told himself, _you're not a stereotypical teenage girl who meets her celebrity crush for the first time._

Ghost shrugged slightly, the movement barely noticeable. "I don't want to be a bother..."

"Nonsense," Shouichi insisted, knowing that he should be the helpful roommate and help Ghost out – after all, Ghost seemed so very different from his flamboyant and flippant brother who probably would have used this chance to tease Shouichi for his reactions. "I'll be more than glad to help, Ghost-san."

A strange look crossed Ghost's face at that comment: a mixture of surprise, weak amusement, and something Shouichi couldn't discern.

Shouichi paused, thinking over his words but not finding a fault in them.

"I hope you don't mind if I take you up on the offer, Shouichi-kun."

"It's what roommates are for," Shouichi tried to smile, but he couldn't hide the awkward tension that hung above him like a dark cloud.

He just hoped that he hadn't promised anything he would regret later on.


	3. Don't Call My Name, Alejandro

**title:** Two Can Play This Game, chapter 2

**characters**: Byakuran, Irie Shouichi, Ghost

**summary:** Some bonding and jelly Byakuran.

**notes:** Yes, this fic will be getting somewhere. Eventually. And yes, this chapter's title is ridiculous.

* * *

**Chapter 2:** Don't Call My Name, Alejandro

* * *

"...I hope you don't mind me asking, but... your name isn't really Ghost, is it?"

Ghost raised his head up from the book he had studiously been reading for the past half an hour to look at Shouichi who was sitting on the floor with several textbooks and notebooks spread open in front of him while Ghost was lounging on his side of the room in his bed, legs pulled up onto the bed with him.

"...I don't mind," Ghost started with his soft baritone that was already some sort of sensation in the more... hormonal-swayed part of the student population.

Ghost paused, furrowing his delicate brows slightly as he seemed to ponder over how to answer the redhead's question. Shouichi's eyes stayed on the other, inspecting every delicate change on Ghost's expressions.

"It isn't my real name," Ghost admitted slowly, eyes watching Shouichi as a hand swept some of the stray blond locks away from the pale face and tucking them behind an ear. The book lay on his lap, momentarily forgotten.

"Brother gave me that nickname, and it simply caught on... to the point where I use it, too." Ghost's voice got quieter at each word, and Shouichi had to strain his ears to even hear the end of the sentence.

"And everyone else," Shouichi added, remembering how Lal Mirch had also called him Ghost instead of using the younger Gesso's real name, whatever that was.

Ghost nodded slightly, an unreadable expression descending over his features once more. Something in common with Byakuran, Shouichi thought with a hint of exasperation. Both of them were so damn mysterious sometimes.

"What's your real name, then?" Shouichi asked cautiously, looking up at Ghost as his fingers absently flipped to another page of the book in front of him. Physics, to be more precise. Kinetic energy, to be even more precise. Shouichi's eyes, though, remained on Ghost in attempt to gauge the other male's emotions if the other even had any; it was ridiculous, but the stone-smooth face and the stiffly lined lips sometimes made him wonder.

"...You would laugh." Ghost's eyebrows twitched, the line of his lips tightening as well, which piqued Shouichi's curiosity in response.

"I wouldn't," Shouichi said, quite confused why Ghost would think that he would laugh at something as trivial as his name. Sure, he might find some names ironic, like Byakuran's, but he wasn't going to laugh at such a thing.

"...Amadore," Ghost all but whispered as he lowered his gaze down, eyes attached back to the book on his lap like it was the most intriguing thing in the world. Considering that it was _Hamlet, _it just might be. "It's an Italian form of _Amator _and it means _lover._"

All of Shouichi's movements came to a pause at that – only his eyes blinked as comprehension dawned on him. "That's... not such a bad name." He peered at Ghost warily, running that name through his mind a few times.

It didn't seem like a name that would suit Ghost very well as the said male seemed to be a little too introverted and socially clumsy to really fit in the category of a great lover, of Don Juan.

Ghost still refused to look at him despite his words, though.

"It is not," he said eventually, "but it is not fitting, either." Ghost's long, spidery fingers (very much like Byakuran's, Shouichi couldn't help noticing) flipped another page of the book, eyes glued to the top of the page¨.

Shouichi stayed silent after, turning his attention to his own books and notes as he rolled his stiffened shoulders. _Amadore, huh?_ Somehow, he couldn't imagine Ghost with that name, despite knowing him only for a day or so.

"You have upacked most of your things by now, right, Amadore-san?"

Ghost stiffened. "Please don't call me by that name." Was it just Shouichi or were Ghost's cheeks a bit red?

Not that Shouichi's cheeks weren't red at all either – they _were_, out of the knowledge that Ghost's name means _lover_. Something like that, saying it out loud...

"But calling you Ghost doesn't seem very fair either," Shouichi argued, a small frown between his eyebrows. "It's pretty tasteless nickname, after all."

Ghost shrugged, seemingly not caring what Shouichi thought of it. "Ghost is just fine, Shouichi-kun. Everyone calls me that." Ghost's eyes flickered over to Shouichi, almost hesitantly. "I'm not used to these... honorifics."

The almost childishly lost look on Ghost's face made Shouichi smile a little as he took pity on the Italian. "It's alright if you want to call me just Shouichi. I don't mind." _At least you're more polite than your brother_, Shouichi mused inwardly as he pushed his glasses up his nose when his attention returned to his physics homework.

Kinetic energy, right...

* * *

"You have to be kidding me."

There was nothing unusual with the words that slipped from Byakuran's mouth, but the tone of voice was so unusual for Byakuran that Kikyo almost instinctively retreated a few steps away from the luxurious couch Byakuran had been lounging on for the past twenty minutes or so along with a pack of marshmallows that Byakuran was now clutching – _hard_.

Kikyo observed the tightened muscles on Byakuran's face and especially the way the smile seemed almost frozen on Byakuran's pale pink lips, though the corners of his mouth were twitching in agitation almost unnoticeably.

"Kikyo-chan, tell me you're joking."

Byakuran's voice was sharp and edgy, underlying anger bubbling out as a tone even more sickeningly sweet than his usual ones, and the narrowed violet eyes simmered with something Kikyo didn't dare to prod at right now despite being one of Byakuran's closest... followers.

Kikyo cleared his throat as he tried to drive away to uneasiness he felt in the presence of his angered leader. _Friend_ would be too presumptuous of him.

"Unfrotunately," Kikyo made a point to stress the word, even though he saw nothing unfortunate in it, "Ghost _is_ Irie Shouichi's roommate. Has been since yesterday, from what I heard."

Byakuran's fingers squeezed at a marshmallow so tightly that Kikyo was sure that Byakuran's nail was digging into the skin of the other finger by now. Byakuran's expression revealed no signs of pain, however.

"Ah, Ghost-kun really managed to get Shou-chan as his roommate," Byakuran chirped, but the look in his eyes was nowhere near the carefree happiness his saccharine tone implied. _Jealousy?_ Kikyo had to wonder, his delicate eyebrows furrowing as a frown crossed his own face.

_Surely, _Kikyo thought upon closer inspection, _it is, indeed._

And that realization made Kikyo feel varying degrees of uncomfortable as he listlessly inspected Byakuran's hardened, yet unreadable, eyes.

"I thought Ghost-kun was joking when he told he wanted to get to know Shou-chan," Byakuran mused, his fingers idly playing with the stray marshmallow in agitated motions. "A really _bad _joke, but Ghost-kun has never been fit to be a comedian in the first place."

Kikyo's lips hovered between a smile and a frown, faint amusement flickering in his sea-green eyes before the feeling faded. "Byakuran-sama...?"

Byakuran plopped the marshmallow into his mouth, his jaws moving visibly as he chewed on the sugary treat viciously – as though Ghost's interest in Shouichi and him becoming Shouichi's roommate was all its fault. "I guess I shouldn't have told Ghost-kun about Shou-chan after all, ne?"

What Byakuran wanted hadn't changed in the slightest since he had become friends with Shouichi, Kikyo knew this – mostly because of Byakuran had confided in him several times about his desire for the redhead, having gone as far as explicit details.

Needless to say, Kikyo couldn't quite look at Irie Shouichi without getting those mentally scarring – pornographic, to be more precise – images Byakuran had inadvertently inserted into him.

Well, anything for the person that had saved him and his younger brother from Italian streets once upon a time... even if that anything included knowing exactly in what positions Byakuran wanted to bang Irie Shouichi in.

"Byakuran-sama, I think you're making a too big deal out of this," he eventually commented with the proper respect and tact of someone who had dedicated himself to another person almost completely.

Kikyo shifted slightly, moving to sit on the other couch in the vast room while his eyes stayed on Byakuran's tense expression and tried to gauge Byakuran's genuine emotions through the expressive, unnaturally bright violet eyes.

Right then, those eyes flashed at Kikyo's words, but the amiable smile remained on Byakuran's lips; that sweet, saccharine smile Byakuran offered to everyone didn't reach his eyes at all even while his posture relaxed when Kikyo sat down.

"Kikyo-chan, did you know?" Byakuran questioned, more like chirped out, and tilted his head with enough force to send some of his pure white hair to trickle down over his eyes, covering the hard look boiling in the depths of Byakuran's amethystine hues. "Ghost-kun and I used to play together a lot when we were kids..."

Kikyo nodded slightly. "I have seen some photos of those times," he said, unnecessarily as Byakuran didn't take notice of his words and kept going on.

"Ghost-kun lost often to me, but that's only natural, hm~? Since I'm more apt at games, and he was such a clumsy child~." Byakuran's voice held a certain amount of smugness, but Kikyo could detect the underlying nostalgia from the other's tone, and the teal-haired male had to suppress a small smile.

After Kikyo had been picked up from the streets by Byakuran's family, he had often witnessed Byakuran and Ghost's little games – of course, Byakuran won most of them, but Kikyo had a sneaking suspicion that Ghost also let his brother win most of the time.

With a soft sigh of his own, Kikyo reached for the coffee table between the couches and took some of the delicacies from Italy Byakuran had his relatives transport every now and then. A piece of chocolate between his fingers, Kikyo met Byakuran's gaze evenly.

"Perhaps he doesn't want to lose to you this time, Byakuran-sama," he remarked carefully, a neutral expression tightly glued onto his face. As much as he respected Byakuran, he wouldn't meddle with Ghost, who had been equally decent at both him and his little brother back then.

That managed to elicit a bubbling laughter from Byakuran, who then leaned more against the back of the couch, body slumping into a comfortably careless position as his eyes stared up at the ceiling high above him.

"Ghost-kun is a fool," he murmured lowly as he plopped another marshmallow into his mouth, though he didn't chew on it as viciously as before – a sign that Byakuran had regained his composure somewhat.

Kikyo felt almost relieved – he would have, if it weren't for the slight glint of Byakuran's eyes he could feel more than see at the moment.

"If he wants to play, then it's on~."

* * *

Later that evening, Shouichi was cooking. It was nothing abnormal, considering that he was a decent cook – even according to Byakuran's high standards that hardly anyone met – but this time he was cooking for two people, and that was a little unusual as he didn't often cook for other people.

This time, it couldn't be helped. Ghost, as he had demonstrated, was a hopeless cook, and Shouichi wrinkled his nose at the memory of that attempt on lasagna that would go down as a case never to be mentioned to living person after this night.

"It smells delicious."

Shouichi couldn't help the jolt of surprise that went through him at the voice coming from behind him. _Right _behind him, to be more precise, and Ghost was close enough for Shouichi to feel the radiating warmth of Ghost's body though neither of their bodies touched, not even in the slightest.

"Uh, thank you," Shouichi all but stammered, the invasion of his personal space so unexpected that he couldn't even form a coherent sentence.

"Rice and curry, right?" Ghost questioned, casually leaning over Shouichi's shoulder and causing blond strands of hair to brush against Shouichi's cheek ever so softly.

_Scratch that, he's just as bad as Byakuran-san when it comes to respecting other people's personal space,_ Shouichi mused to himself as he stirred the rice some more as hot steam wafted up from the kettle. Humming to himself, Shouichi glanced at the clock set on the counter. Ah, rice should be done... right about... now.

Shouichi put the kettle away, next focusing on the curry in the making.

"Yes," he replied to Ghost's rhetorical question, eyes darting to glance at Ghost briefly. "Could you back off a little, Ghost-san?"

Ghost obeyed his demand-veiled-as-question easily, and Shouichi marveled this briefly before mentally shaking his head. To be amazed by something as little as that was foolish...

"Can I have some, too?" Ghost's question made Shouichi turn his head fully towards the other before his eyes blinked a few times.

"Of course. You didn't think I would let you go without having some dinner, did you?" Shouichi questioned as he smiled at Ghost a little bit. They might be less than friends right now, but they _were_ roommates, after all. Some common courtesy ought to apply to these situations.

Ghost smiled at that. "Thank you, Shouichi."

The smile that passed Ghost's face was so brilliant, so _warm_, so _extravagantly beautiful_ that Shouichi's stomach almost flipped – and he couldn't understand that reaction, not at all.

Shouichi managed to smile in return despite that heat that almost went to his cheeks. "It's not a problem. That's what roommates are for..." He quickly turned back to prepare the rest of the food, ushering Ghost away so that he could focus on cooking.

Ghost watched from the sidelines, the smile long gone from his face and his usual expressionless look settling back in – but his eyes, they were gleaming as they watched Shouichi move about in the small kitchen, taking in every little movement the redhead made.

_Brother, you must have the patience of a saint, _Ghost mused to himself as his eyes narrowed the slightest bit when Shouichi burnt his finger and yelped softly in pain before hurrying to tend to the burn. _I figured you would have made him yours by now._

Ghost remembered the countless letters Byakuran had sent to Italy during the year he had met Shouichi – oh, yes, Byakuran actually handwrote letters. No emails, no Skype calls, but handwritten letters. The way Byakuran's handwriting would go out of control: the extravagant L's, the little quirk in the Q's, and all the other things that made Byakuran's handwriting so flowing and even aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

In those letters, most of which he had addressed to Ghost, Byakuran had gone on and on about Irie Shouichi, the redhaired engineering student whome he had had the chance to meet purely coincidentally as they hadn't shared even one class.

It had been about twenty letters later when Ghost had realized that Byakuran had fallen for this 'Irie Shouichi', and he could still recall the moment that realization had dawned on him.

He couldn't say that he understood _why_ Byakuran was so obsessed over this particular person... not completely, anyway.

But he definitely wanted to get to know Shouichi better.

* * *

"Shou-chan, I heard Ghost-kun is your new roommate."

It was an innocent way to start a conversation, but Shouichi could sense that something was up, especially after he took notice of the overly saccharine tone and the tightening around Byakuran's lips.

"-_Where _did you hear that?" Shouichi pondered out loud, taking a sip from his milkshake as he enjoyed the light breeze of the wind that played with his hair.

"Oh, I have my sources."

_Did you put Kikyo-san to stalking duty? _Shouichi wondered dryly as he shifted uncomfortably on his chair, the chatter from the next tables momentarily distracting him.

"-and did you hear? Ghost-sama is living with that nerd-"

"-oh my gosh, really?"

"-oh, poor baby!"

Shouichi winced at the comments, hanging his head low. Even though they were university students, outward appearances always were the most easiest way to get into the circles or be left out of them. In his case, it was the latter, apparently.

...Or the fact that he was a technophiliac in some way – not quite as bad as Spanner, though.

Byakuran tutted at the disruption. "Anyway, Shou-chan... How is it going with Ghost-kun?"

Something about that tone told Shouichi that there was more to Byakuran's words than just the apparent meaning, and that was what made him think his answer through a few times – or at least consider for a few seconds before answering.

"It's going well," Shouichi replied, in between the sips he took from his plastic cup. "He's a very decent roommate from what I can tell." After about two days of living together, that was.

It was Friday afternoon now, and the campus was buzzing with life and students either lazed around or hurried to their next classes – Shouichi and Byakuran belonged to the former group.

"Oh?" Byakuran's tone didn't change from the honey-dripping one, but Shouichi saw those brilliant amethyst eyes narrowing into slits and the smile on Byakuran's lips growing.

_He always smiled wider when he was angry._

"I wonder what Ghost-kun has done to earn such a good opinion from you, Shou-chan. It took me an eternity to get you to even let me stay over for a night at your dorm room, after all."

Shouichi bristled at the implications hidden in those words, and he threw a glare at Byakuran ho was sitting on the other side of the table, just out of reach so that he couldn't pinch him for his cheekiness.

But he _could _kick him, if he were any less mature.

(_Your maturity is already questionable if you want to pinch him, though, _the soft voice from the back of his mind piped up.)

"He has done nothing extraordinarily _weird_, so maybe that is why," Shouichi mused out loud, pinching his nose a bit as he wondered why he had to deal with Byakuran's inexplicable bursts of jealousy that never really made any sense. "And there is a perfectly good reason why I didn't let you stay overnight that time."

Byakuran raised an eyebrow at that, his curiosity peaked, though he clearly hadn't forgotten the Ghost issue quite yet. "And that would be~?" Byakuran's eyes twinkled teasingly as he continued, "Oh, could it be that Shou-chan was afraid something X-rated would happen? Oh, you and your fantasies-"

This time, Shouichi kicked Byakuran in his shin. _Hard._

"Ow- ahaha, I was just kidding, Shou-chan-"

"Yeah, I hope you were," Shouichi grumbled, shaking his head at his friend's antics and innuendos that never ceased to either annoy or fluster him. Damn it, sheltered childhood and perverted male friends.

"Anyway," Byakuran seemed to sober up from his snickering a bit as his voice turned more serious, slightly less sugary, "you shouldn't get involved with Ghost-kun too much." Byakuran reached for Shouichi's arm, tugging it further onto the table once his fingers caught the sleeve of Shouichi's shirt, and then he proceeded to entwine his fingers with Shouichi's and giving Shouichi's fingers a squeeze.

Shouichi stared at their entwined fingers, distracted by this but not enough to disregard Byakuran's words. "Give me one good reason, Byakuran-san. If he's not a psychopath on the loose, I won't be running away from him."

Byakuran's lips curved down at that, displeasure evident on his face even though it disappeared soon as Byakuran conjured up a mask of innocence and joviality. "Oh, well. I tried~. But Shou-chan shouldn't come complaining to me when Ghost-kun tries something _weird_."

The way the last word was accentuated made Shouichi's stomach churn with worry, but he managed to hide his wince from being seen, if only barely. He hated these innuendos Byakuran would often make; they would always fester in his brain until it blew out to become an outright paranoia, although the silly and relatively innocent kind. If there's anything innocent about fearing your laptop getting a stash of porno you had not downloaded nor did you want any of it in the first place.

"Byakuran-san," Shouichi sighed, his patience running low. "He isn't like you."

"Since when have I ever-"

"Only every time I let you stay over."

"Ah, come on, Shou-chan. It's _friendly_ touching-"

Shouichi didn't want to deal with this, and he didn't want to acknowledge the warmth flooding to his cheeks rather rapidly.

"There is _no _such thing as _friendly_ touching."

Luckily for his virginity, Byakuran was always just mostly screwing around. Luckily.

"...At least not from you," Shouichi added as he stood up and went to throw his emptied plastic cup into the nearest trash can, Byakuran scampering off to his two feet to follow Shouichi like a lost puppy the redhead didn't want to have. A smartass puppy with questionable motives.

Shouichi sighed, feeling a headache approaching as Byakuran wrapped an arm around his shoulders as he usually did with absolutely no sense of personal space.

And that was when Byakuran decided to lean over (as if he wasn't close enough as it was) to whisper into his ear: "Would you like to come over to _my _dorm room one of these days, Shou-chan?"

And against his better judgment, he said yes.


	4. All I Wanna Do

**title:** Two Can Play This Game, chapter 3

**characters:** Irie Shouichi, Byakuran (sorry, no Ghost this time!)

**summary:** Things get a little... out of hand.

**notes:** One of the reasons this fic is rated M.

* * *

**Chapter 3:** All I Wanna Do

* * *

"_You shouldn't get involved with Ghost-kun too much."_

Those words rang through his mind for the umpteenth time – as they had done during the past few days, ever since Byakuran had first uttered them with such a serious expression and tone.

It had been a little over a week since then – and since Ghost had moved in with Shouichi.

Shouichi glanced over towards the other bed in the room, only seeing a vague shape of a person through the darkness, but it was better than nothing.

Even if it had only been approximately a week and a half since he had met Ghost for the first time, he could already tell that he had a dangerously soft spot for the younger Gesso.

It was nothing like the soft spot he held for Byakuran, of course. Byakuran had earned it through months of pestering him – and even now Shouichi was reluctant to admit that Byakuran was rather... important figure in his life: someone that made his life a little brighter, albeit crazy and chaotic.

And that was why Byakuran's opinion mattered, even though Shouichi knew the decision was up to himself in the end.

"_You shouldn't get involved with Ghost-kun too much."_

Byakuran could say that all he wanted, but it was impossible to _avoid_ Ghost, seeing how they lived together and how Shouichi prepared their meals on daily basis.

Shouichi's eyes stared at the unmoving form, squinting a bit as he tried to see better but to no avail as his glasses had already been placed away for the night.

_Byakuran-san is just jealous_, Shouichi told himself, shrugging off the uneasiness he had felt ever since Byakuran had uttered that sentence. _Ghost-san doesn't seem like the type of person to do anything bad. _

He thought back to the dinner they had eaten a few hours ago in comfortable silence – neither of them had said a word, but somehow the atmosphere had been so incredibly relaxing and calming that Shouichi had enjoyed the meal thoroughly.

Shouichi smiled at the thought before turning on his other side, arms wrapped around a pillow before his closed his eyes again as sleep was starting to overcome his jumbled and all-over-the-place thoughts.

And tomorrow, he would go to visit Byakuran's dorm for the first time in a while.

* * *

"I don't know how you manage to keep this place so clean," Shouichi commented as his eyes darted on the pure white walls decorated with paintings, most likely painted by Kikyo, who was rather well-known in the campus for his artistic talents. Shouichi's eyes stayed on one of the largest paintings – it was a picture of a large mansion, presumably the one where Byakuran and his family lived, at least if the title "Gesso" didn't mean something different in this context.

Byakuran merely laughed at his comment as he settled on the light-colored couch, patting the space next to him as an invitation for Shouichi to come there. "Hmhm, I have lots of help~."

"So you don't do it yourself." Shouichi eyed the other suspiciously for a moment before reluctantly going to Byakuran's side and sitting down.

"Of course not," Byakuran laughed at Shouichi's words as he wrapped an arm around Shouichi's waist almost immediately upon Shouichi sitting down – at which Shouichi stiffened slightly. "There are servants for that."

_Your rich boy attitude is showing, Byakuran-san,_ Shouichi mused to himself as he felt drops of sweat forming on the back of his head as he made no effort to resist the arm around him. Byakuran was naturally affectionate – although sometimes it went too far. Way, way too far.

"Want to watch a movie with me, Shou-chan?" Byakuran continued when Shouichi stayed silent, violet eyes peering at Shouichi's face questioningly but oddly smugly at the same time – as though he had won something extraordinary.

Shouichi thought back to all the homework he would have to do during weekend before slowly nodding at Byakuran's suggestion. It _had _been a while since he had simply spent a nice evening with Byakuran, relaxing and possibly playing Choice, the game they had come up with during Shouichi's first year of university.

"What kind of movie?" he asked wearily, fully aware of Byakuran's preference to horror and gore, which Shouichi's stomach couldn't handle at all.

Byakuran's lips curved into a smirk at his question, a hand absently rubbing Shouichi's hip through the fabric of pants."A horror movie, of course." He leaned closer to Shouichi, moving his lips close to Shouichi's ear. "Shou-chan's not _afraid_, is he?" he taunted gently, the grin very audible in his voice.

Shouichi pursed his lips at that tone of voice. "I'm not all that fond of horror movies, you know that," he muttered, growingly conscious of the hand on his hip.

"Ah, come on," Byakuran whined, this time nuzzling his nose against Shouichi's cheek, which made Shouichi's face flush crimson. What a nerve, to break his personal bubble like this...! Shouichi shifted, leaning away from the touch – only to fall against the couch as the hand on his hip refused to budge, and Byakuran went down with him.

Shouichi winced when his head hit the arm of the couch, glasses nearly falling from his face, but he soon became aware of the weight pressing down on him, and the pain in his head became unsignificant to him that instant.

Byakuran was lying on him rather uncomfortably, face hovering over Shouichi's as he had crawled even closer than where he had initially landed with Shouichi. Violet eyes leered down at Shouichi, the gleam in those depths anything but innocent.

"Byakuran-san...?" Shouichi questioned, eyes widening as alarm bells rang in the back of his head. Uh-oh, this situation was-

Byakuran's hand rested on Shouichi's hip, fingers idly playing with the hem of Shouichi's shirt, and Byakuran himself was smiling down at Shouichi like he had just found the most delicious treat in the world.

"I guess we can do something else if Shou-chan doesn't like horror movies," Byakuran murmured, and Shouichi shivered at the suggestive tone.

"H-horror movie sounds alright," Shouichi managed to squeak out, green eyes wide behind his glasses; as used as he was to Byakuran's touchy feely ways, _this_ was just plain... distracting and unneeded.

Byakuran's grin brightened noticeably at his answer, though he still didn't pull away from Shouichi and his body. "I figured you would say that. Good boy, Shou-chan~." And then, as though Shouichi was a dog, Byakuran petted Shouichi's bright, red hair with his free hand, momentarily allowing his body to lie on Shouichi's completely – which effectively elicited a soft 'oomph'-like sound from Shouichi.

"Please stop treating me like a pet," Shouichi mumbled, his hands moving to push Byakuran away once they got the room to do so. Once Byakuran was completely off him, Shouichi sat up, hand rubbing at the side of his head he had hurt against the arm of the couch.

He didn't want to admit it to himself, but his heart was beating way too quickly in his chest as a reaction to their earlier position.

_No, please stop doing that, _he thought desperately to himself as he smoothed his wrinkled button-up shirt before finally turning to face Byakuran, who had been inspecting the redhead with amusement swirling in his purple eyes.

"Hmhm, I wish Shou-chan would be my pet, really," Byakuran commented lightly, smiling as though there was nothing even remotely wrong with what he had just blurted out.

Shouichi stared at him a good few moment before sighing. "That sounds like an unhealthy friendship, Byakuran-san."

Byakuran chuckled, eyes crinkling a little as his smile turned warmer and more genuine. "Who says it would be just friendship?" He didn't pause to listen to Shouichi's response though as he climbed up from the couch and went to get a movie from the shelf where he kept his DVDs and game consoles.

Meanwhile Shouichi kept spluttering and tried to control his reaction to Byakuran's words – which had made him confused, embarrassed, and iffed at the same time. Iffed because, seriously, what was wrong with good old friendships? Absolutely nothing – they were the best, and this particular friendship was extremely important to the redhead. He really hoped Byakuran could see that and he also hoped that Byakuran would feel the same – apparently that was not the case, however.

Maybe he was too sensitive, but he felt his heart ache at that implication.

_Well,_ Shouichi mused to himself, _I guess I shouldn't be surprised._

"I really like Japanese horror movies," Byakuran's voice chirped, and Shouichi raised his head to look at Byakuran who started to fiddle with the plasma television and the DVD player, his back now on Shouichi. "Your people really know their stuff, Shou-chan."

Shouichi grumbled, his stomach making a nauseating twist inside him as he hoped that Byakuran had at the very least been sensible enough to choose one of the lighter horror movies instead of the really gory and grotesque ones he had a habit of watching with Kikyo – or so Shouichi had heard.

"...Thanks on the behalf of Japanese movie industry, I suppose," Shouichi said rather dryly, shifting on the couch to make himself comfortable. On the other hand, maybe he should get something warm to drink – it might just ease the worst stomachaches during the movie if he was lucky. _If_ he was lucky.

Byakuran's tinkling laughter made him feel a little better, though.

"Wanna get something to drink before the movie starts?" Byakuran questioned as he meddled with the language settings for the movie, glancing at Shouichi briefly over his shoulder. Noticing the look of anxiety on his beloved friend's face, Byakuran grinned. "If you get scared during the movie, Shou-chan, you can always cling to me~!"

Byakuran loved that mental image of Shouichi squealing in horror and clinging to Byakuran's arm – probably more than he had any right to as he had not made any claims over Shouichi yet.

_Yet._

As expected, Shouichi sputtered at Byakuran's suggestion, and that pale Japanese face reddened either out of embarrassment or anger – the Italian really didn't care which it was; Shouichi's red face had always been quite the sight.

"I-I'll just go make some tea for myself," Shouichi eventually mumbled after he got over his flustered spluttering, his eyes narrowed as he glanced at Byakuran.

"Oh, make some hot chocolate for me while you're at it~!"

Byakuran could sense the way Shouichi rolled his eyes from the tone of the redhead's voice. "Yeah, yeah. Like usual, right?" With that, the other had disappeared off into the kitchen.

Byakuran's eyes lingered at the opened door for a brief moment, his eyes darkening momentarily with selfish want.

_Shou-chan, you really have no idea how much I want you, have you?_

Early twenties or not, the hormones were kicking in strongly, or maybe it was just the university setting that made everyone that much hornier – being away from home and all that could cause different reactions in different people.

Hormones were a good enough of an excuse.

_Although_, Byakuran mused as a picture of Ghost flashed in his mind, _it's really much more than that._ His eyes turned colder at that thought, and he instantly switched his attention back to the screen as he set the language settings before flopping down on the couch again, the remote safely in his hand.

His mind wandered then as he listened to the noises from the kitchen. _Ghost-kun can't have you_, he thought jealously as he hummed a bit to the inaudible tune that played in his head underneath all the buzzing thoughts. _He can't, he absolutely can't. _

This possessive emotion that welled up within him at the thought of his brother living with Shouichi, having _dinner_ with Shouichi... it wasn't unreasonable, was it?

Not to mention the thought of Ghost managing to steal kisses from Shouichi and _more_; it was enough to drive Byakuran up the walls, just imagining those sorts of things.

But he wouldn't stoop so low as to have a hissy fit over this, goodness no.

He'd just have to pull Shouichi to his side completely before Ghost would try anything suspicious; oh, he had _seen_ the way Ghost glanced at Shouichi when no one else was watching.

During those times, Ghost had looked at Shouichi with that adorable indifference that came to Ghost naturally, but there had been something sparkling in Ghost's own pair of purple eyes that deeply bothered Byakuran, evoking the fit of jealousy he was now in.

"Here."

Byakuran blinked as a steaming mug of hot chocolate was placed on the coffee table along with equally steaming pan of tea and a cup of said liquid.

"Oh, thanks, Shou-chan." Byakuran shifted over, making room for Shouichi on the couch. Inwardly, Byakuran felt rather gleeful – watching horror movies with Shouichi was one of the most entertaining things he knew, if only due to the whimpers of fear and pain Shouichi would let out during the more gruesome scenes.

Huh, maybe he was a little sadistic.

Shouichi merely nodded as he took his cup of tea in his hands again before sitting down and blowing onto the hot liquid. "Let's do this, then," he muttered, a determined furrow between his brows. He would survive this. He would.

Byakuran's smile of utter glee went unnoticed, and soon the film started to play.

_I hope, _Shouichi thought glumly to himself as his hold around the cup tightened, _that I won't regret this._

* * *

Needless to say, halfway through the movie Shouichi was regretting his decision as the third or fourth character got killed by axe plunged into their flesh.

Shouichi's hand went to cover his mouth, the girl's scream still echoing in his ears. Oh God, this had been one of the most terrible ideas he had had in a while. Perhaps even worse than programming Mini Mosca into-

...He erased that memory quickly.

"Hm, I can't really say that the editors did a good job at that," Byakuran chirped from Shouichi's side, and the redhead was once again dumbstruck by the fact how imperturbed Byakuran could be when watching someone getting beheaded or axed, even though it was fictional. "You can tell that the blood is fake..." Byakuran tutted before obliviously turning to glance at Shouichi, eyes widening in mock surprise. "Oh, Shou-chan! You're so pale; are you alright?"

Shouichi's eyes narrowed slightly, but the painful and sickening churning in his stomach made him grimace, dulling the glare. "You know I can't... stand these movies..." he muttered, chewing on his lower lip as a stabbing feeling pierced his stomach just as another scream came from the television.

This time Byakuran ignored it for Shouichi's sake.

"Oh, does your stomach hurt?" Scratch that, it was all for the sake of teasing the redhead. "And you didn't bring your stomach medicine with you today, did you?"

_You're enjoying this, aren't you? _Shouichi mentally cursed as he gripped his stomach hard with his hands. "That's... right," he managed to say between the screams from the movie, which made him wince more.

Byakuran snickered quietly, hands gently tugging Shouichi to lie down on the couch – and partially on his lap. Ah, yes, this was perfect.

Shouichi couldn't even protest that much as his stomach was churning and twisting at the sounds coming from the movie, so he welcomed the comfort offered by Byakuran's lap and he shifted slightly until his back was facing the television screen on the wall and his face was almost buried into Byakuran's shirt.

"Is that better now, Shou-chan?" Byakuran crooned as his hand petted Shouichi's hair gingerly, fingers running through the red locks that were surprisingly soft to the touch – though there were many knots, which he then proceeded to unknot.

Shouichi was still breathing shallowly, Byakuran noticed, and he felt a _little_ bad for putting the redhead through such an experience – but then again, Shouichi had been given a choice in the matter. Byakuran hadn't outright _forced _him.

Byakuran's hand trailed down to Shouichi's paled cheek, a thumb caressing at the skin tenderly as Byakuran gazed at his friend with a contented smile on his lips. _This is how it's supposed to be._ Just Shouichi and him, like this. More or less intimately together, either talking or in silence. _This_ was what Byakuran wanted-

-well, this and having Shouichi _fully_ to himself, of course. Both his body and soul – if one were to go all romantic about his feelings for the red-haired engineering student.

Byakuran could feel something warm in his chest when Shouichi leaned into the touch instinctively, green eyes half-open as they looked up at Byakuran and meeting Byakuran's gaze. Dull green and bright violet.

Byakura said nothing as he inspected Shouichi's eyes, exploring in the depths of green that gave him the feeling of getting lost in a forest's greenery. Hopeless feeling, and yet beautiful at the same time, just like the leaves of trees.

_Dreadfully beautiful._

Byakuran's own eyes narrowed as he ran a thumb over Shouichi's parted lips slowly, feeling up the tender, pinkish skin as Shouichi stared up at him with confusion written all over his face... and those eyes glimmering with unprecedented questions.

_You do terrible, terrible things to me, Shou-chan_, Byakuran mused just as a gunshot echoed from the movie, which didn't even manage to tear Byakuran's eyes off from his friend's face.

"...kuran-san...?"

_You have no idea, Shou-chan,_ Byakuran mused, frowning slightly as he pressed his thumb more against the lower lip before rubbing against the skin some more. He relished in the pretty little flush that spread over onto Shouichi's cheeks. _Cute._

"Does Shou-chan mind?" Byakuran questioned, smile widening into a grin, and a pleasant tingle rolled in his own stomach.

Shouichi's wide eyes didn't blink for a moment – but then he winced, eyes narrowing slightly at his stomach's churning. "I guess not..." the redhead managed to mumble anyway, rolling to his side again and burying his head into Byakuran's shirt and thus breaking the skin contact between his lips and Byakuran's thumb. Byakuran tutted at this in disapproval, but allowed it to happen nonetheless since he could still pet Shouichi's wonderfully red hair.

"Apparently you do mind," Byakuran laughed lightly, his voice lilting and saccharine-coated as usually but this time there was an undeniable hint of fondness mixed within.

It was too bad that Shouichi didn't seem to notice that as he was busy clutching his stomach.

Byakuran furrowed his brow slightly before a naughty expression lit up his face. "Don't tell me you need a stomach rub, Shou-chan?"

A sharp, almost choked inhale and a posture as still as a corpse's was the response he got, and Byakuran felt satisfied by it, though perhaps a little disappointed by the high walls Shouichi was putting up around himself to keep Byakuran away.

This thing called personal space was really bothersome...

"It's not like I have any medicine for your stomach aches right now, you know," Byakuran pouted, fingers rubbing against Shouichi's scalp tenderly, lovingly even. "Stomach rubs might actually help, Shou-chan," he said, trying to coax Shouichi into this while trying not to sound like a pervert trying to get into Shouichi's pants.

All in due time, he was in no rush.

...Well, perhaps a little, due to the disturbance called Ghost.

Shouichi whined, almost whimpered, before nodding slightly. "Fine..." Weary green eyes looked up at Byakuran, warning apparent in them. "Just don't do anything unnecessary, please..."

"Since when do I ever do anything _unnecessary_, Shou-chan?" Byakuran teased as he gently rose from the couch, setting Shouichi fully down on it afterwards.

Shouichi scoffed, though his features contorted into a wince quickly after. "Always."

Byakuran said nothing to that and instead lifted Shouichi's shirt up to reveal the flat stomach; the sight was enough to make Byakuran's eyes narrow slightly as the want he remembered having so many times before returned, if slightly milder than before.

Tentatively yet confidently, Byakuran started to rub Shouichi's stomach with both of his hands, pressing hard but gently at the skin. He was, needless to say, pleased when Shouichi's cheeks unwillingly grew dark with embarrassment.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Byakuran couldn't help but purr out loud. He could hardly ever touch Shouichi this intimately, so he was planning to take all the joy from it – and maybe, just maybe, Shouichi would respond the way he wanted the redhead to. That would be oh so _wonderful_.

Shouichi responded with a soft sound Byakuran's ears barely caught – but he did hear it, and he swallowed a little. He may not be a teenager anymore, but that didn't mean anything right now when such an opportunity was right under his hands.

His fingers itched to touch more of Shouichi, to feel more of this wonderful skin underneath them, to memorize every dip and curve of the other's body, and Byakuran had to close his eyes for a moment to calm himself down. While this was what he had wanted, he didn't particularly plan to force Shouichi into anything the redhead himself didn't want to.

"Feeling pretty good, hm?" Byakuran hummed out loud again, hiding the breathlessness of his own voice by clearing his throat. "I told you, I give amazing massages," he added with a purr more seductive than he had even intended as he gingerly ran his fingers over Shouichi's navel, dipping his forefinger into it absently. This movement earned a strangled mewl from Shouichi, and Byakuran blinked at the sound – before his usual grin took over his face.

"Oh, Shou-chan, I'm just rubbing your stomach..." he murmured, lowering his hand to Shouichi's side, fingers massaging the skin all the way down there. Even though these sounds probably didn't mean anything, Byakuran couldn't help the feeling that rushed down from his head down to his pants.

"Don't misunderstand, Byakuran-san," Shouichi all but growled, half-lidded eyes glaring up at Byakuran, but Byakuran was more interested in the red tint on Shouichi's cheeks, which excited him all the more.

(Not a very good situation to think with his dick, really...)

Byakuran barely resisted the urge to crawl over on top of Shouichi to start grinding against him; it would be so good to see Shouichi's face even darker and the redhead's lips parting to moan his name-

"Hmhm, I'm _not_ thinking about anything _dirty_, Shou-chan," Byakuran lied smoothly, purring the words out. "Bad Shou-chan, what were you thinking?"

At this point, neither of them listened to the sounds from the movie anymore. Instead, they were much more aware of each other's closeness and the _intimacy_ of this situation – especially Shouichi, whose stomach was now curling for completely different reason than before.

_Why is this happening?_ Shouichi wondered to himself as he chewed on his lower lip as Byakuran's fingers massaged at his side instead of the stomach, which had been the part in need of the rubbing.

He shuddered at the feeling of those fingers on his left side, mentally hating how sensitive his sides were sometimes. "Byakuran-san-" He also hated how breathless his voice had become. "-this isn't what-"

The look in Byakuran's eyes was what made his voice falter and fade away; those purple hues were shining, practically boiling, with desire so strong Shouichi was sure he would be swallowed whole if he gave in.

His stomach fluttered unexpectedly along with his racing heart that could soon be bursting out of his chest.

Byakuran smiled one of those suggestive, seductive smiles Shouichi had seen one too many already. "This isn't what, Shou-chan?" he questioned lowly, hand insistently stroking at his side in slow, seducing movements as if trying to memorize the feeling of Shouichi's skin.

Shouichi swallowed thickly as he felt more heat gathering on his face, every limb of his body feeling like jelly under these ministrations. He should be pushing Byakuran away, right now, before things would go too far. Before there was no coming back from this.

But as much as he hated to admit it, he too was a man with sexual urges, and right now... right now Byakuran was unfairly provoking those urges to come alive.

"Stop..." Shouichi muttered softly, his voice thick as he shuddered again at those fingers sliding up on his side and thus forcing his shirt to go up along with them. Teasing, light touches that beckoned that certain part of Shouichi's body to stir... Shouichi hated to admit that his body reacted to those, hated to admit the possibility of there being _attraction_ between him and Byakuran.

Byakuran paused at that breathless word – stopped from advancing on Shouichi's body, that is. Fingers still massaged at the heated skin.

"Why?" the white-haired man questioned, looking down at Shouichi with his dark, amethystine eyes that Shouichi both hated and liked at the same time – liked for their peculiarity and hated how it felt like those eyes could see through him every time, leaving him vulnerable.

Shouichi swallowed before pushing himself up into a sitting position as he finally gained control of his limbs. His cheeks were definitely burning bright red at this point, and his pants felt a little too tight for comfort. "I don't... want this," he spoke quietly, hesitantly but he managed to fake some firmness into his tone as he pushed Byakuran's hands off of his stomach.

Surprisingly, Byakuran stayed silent at that and instead continued to inspect Shouichi's expression with those narrow, violet eyes that could see through everything – or so Shouichi believed.

Something, right then, flashed in those depths, and Shouichi stiffened, clearly worried-

"Okay, Shou-chan."

Shouichi blinked, slightly surprised because he knew that Byakuran could be rather... persuasive when it came to sex and seducing. (Some girls and guys just couldn't keep their mouth shut during class times, after all.)

He wasn't going to question Byakuran's motives for letting this go, though, and he was quick to stand up to his shaky two feet, tugging the hem of his shirt down where it belonged at the same time.

"It's better if I go now," he mumbled shakily, unwilling to admit that there was a hitch in his breathing, before rushing off without even bothering to listen to whatever protests Byakuran had about his sudden departure.

Meanwhile Byakuran's eyes stared in the direction his friend had disappeared off to, a feeling of disappointment finally emerging on Byakuran's face as he sat on his expensive Persian rug and tried not to think of Shouichi's words and behavior as an outright rejection.

_No, _Byakuran thought to himself, _it wasn't a rejection._ That flush on Shouichi's cheek, those shudders Byakuran felt against his fingertips... There was no way those could be a sign of repulsion or rejection.

Byakuran felt genuinely disappointed, though. Just when he had thought their relationship could advance from just being friends to something more...

_It's no matter, _he thought to himself as he settled his hand absently over his crotch and rubbed himself through the pants. _Shou-chan will come to love me eventually – just as much as I love him, and then he'll be begging me to take him. _Wasn't that just the perfect mental image~?


	5. Affections and Selfish Desires

**title**: Two Can Play This Game, chapter 4

**characters:** Ghost, Irie Shouichi, Byakuran, Rokudo Mukuro

**summary:** Some improvised snuggling, Mukuro and Byakuran's interaction, Byakuran and Ghost face-to-face after who knows how long time.

**warnings:** ? Sloppy editing. Some sexual innuendos, maybe.

* * *

**Chapter 4:** Affections and Selfish Desires

* * *

Ghost was worried. He had been ever since Shouichi had returned from Byakuran's dorm, looking absolutely distraught and distressed, but no matter how softly and gently Ghost tried to inquire what was wrong, Shouichi wouldn't tell him.

Instead Shouichi had gone to take a long shower, from what Ghost could deduct from the sounds of water coming from bathroom.

Ghost furrowed his delicate brows slightly, frowning at the closed door. Shouichi had been a mess: red cheeks, wrinkles shirt, and hazed look in his green eyes.

It didn't take a Sherlock to figure out the vague outline of what had happened – especially when Ghost knew who Shouichi had been spending time with during that day. Byakuran had always had difficulties in keeping his hands off from the things he wanted – same with people.

Most likely Byakuran had advanced on Shouichi too quickly and scared the redhead off, Ghost mused to himself, face wrinkled with light concern for his roommate.

_Oh, brother, your jealousy only works against you, _Ghost thought with a disapproving headshake as he leaned against the wall near the bathroom door and listened to the splashing sounds coming from Shouichi's showering.

He wanted to talk to Shouichi, to comfort him, but he knew that Shouichi probably didn't feel the same way – Ghost did, after all, look eerily similar to Byakuran. Hair excluded, of course.

If needed, he wanted to hold Shouichi in his arms and lull him to sleep that way.

Ghost's cheeks reddened at the thought of holding Shouichi close, and he shifted uneasily on his spot. He wanted to have Shouichi close – but he didn't know how to achieve something like that. It was a curious feeling, in the first place – they had only spent time together more since he had moved in last week.

Getting attached this quickly was odd, but Ghost had always been like that with people he considered worth paying attention to – just like Byakuran.

_Maybe I should make some hot chocolate for Shouichi, _Ghost thought as he pushed himself up fully before wandering to the small kitchen, turning the stove on before gathering milk and chocolate powder. At least, hot chocolate worked for him and Byakuran every time one of them had been upset – and Ghost hoped Shouichi was the same way.

* * *

The cold water hitting his skin helped Shouichi to calm down and regain his composure, although the certain hardness between his legs was slow to relax, much to Shouichi's annoyance.

Then again, it was his own fault for replaying the images of what had happened over and over again in his mind, imagining Byakuran's warm touches on his soft stomach.

Shouichi closed his eyes, shuddering as the cold water poured down on him while his mind drowned in the memories and mental images. He had always had a vivid imagination, sadly – this was one of the times he hated that fact.

For a scientist, a creative and imaginative mind was a must in order to find new solutions and possibilities, but right now his mind was focused on less than chaste things that only made him feel worse – and aroused, despite the ice cold water beating his skin mercilessly.

The warm haze he was in didn't manage to dull his self-consciousness away – the knowledge of how painfully physically attracted he was to Byakuran tugged at his mind, nearly crippling him as he spread scentless shampoo into his hair, fingers running through his locks agitatedly.

His stomach was starting to ache again as well, the effect of Byakuran's soothing rubs having worn off the moment he had rushed out from the dorm apartment and ran back to his own with his heart racing in his chest hard enough for him to think that it would _burst_.

Shouichi sighed as he washed away the shampoo from his hair, hands moving in his hair and scrubbing the remnants of the substance off before hesitantly moving down his body, all the way down to his half-hard length that he wished would just calm down.

The flickers of flames Byakuran's touches had unwittingly ignited refused to die out that easily, and Shouichi shuddered as his hand tentatively brushed against his needy length – God, what had Byakuran done to him with those touches?

Shouichi reflected back to the situation in Byakuran's living room (vast, white, and so unbelievably _decorated_), his eyelids sliding down as he raised his head up, feeling the water hit his face as he breathed heavily, chest rising and falling according to the rhythm.

"_Okay, Shou-chan." _

Shouichi didn't know why Byakuran's last words bothered him as much as they did – tugging at his mind, trying to prompt something from his mind even he didn't know, _pulling_.

Shouichi sighed through his nose, only to splutter pathetically when he inhaled water, his system reacting to the unwanted liquid immediately and violently – causing Shouichi nearly to stumble and trip in the process. _Nearly_, but he managed to support himself.

Oh, he was more distraught by that whole episode than he had initially even realized. Shouichi released another sigh, hanging his head low, water now trailing down his neck and back, relaxing his tensed muscles as he tried to rid himself of unwanted thoughts.

He blamed hormones and the fact that he hadn't jerked himself off lately for having such a reaction to Byakuran. Yes, that sounded believable... didn't it?

* * *

When Shouichi returned from the shower, a robe wrapped around himself and a towel lying carelessly on his head, Ghost had two cups of steaming hot chocolate prepared for both of them – with whipped cream, of course.

Shouichi's dark green eyes, reminding Ghost of the dark leaves of olive trees, widened in surprise as the engineering student adjusted his glasses on his nose, the sleeve of his dark red robe riding low on his arm as he did so.

Ghost's eyes trained on the wet skin for the briefest of moments, allowing this small indulgence to himself, before lifting his gaze up to meet Shouichi's.

"Hot chocolate," he said neutrally as he offered the other mug he was holding. "Tell me what happened." It was a subtle demand, but a demand nonetheless, and from the disgruntled expression on Shouichi's face, Ghost could tell that Shouichi had noticed that as well.

"Do I need to?" Shouichi sighed out loud, his whole frame visibly shrinking and slumping as he took hold of the mug before slowly trailing back to their shared bedroom, Ghost following close behind with his own mug of steaming liquid.

"It might help," Ghost said quietly after closing the door behind them as if to create an artificial sense of privacy – but considering that they were the only people living there, it was very much unnecessary.

Shouichi's lips pressed together tightly in response to Ghost's statement, though he appreciated the genuine worry oozing from his roommate... and Byakuran's _brother_.

"I'm not sure if I should discuss it with you..." he started hesitantly as he sat on the edge of his own bed while Ghost took one of the chairs and plopped down on it, miraculously not spilling any of his drink. Ghost's eyes were trained on Shouichi the whole time, those familiar, purple hues dark with touching concern.

Shouichi felt his stomach turn inside him yet again, but it wasn't an entirely uncomfortable sensation. It was just... strange, how looking into Ghost's eyes could make him-

Oh.

Shouichi pursed his lips together more tightly, glancing away from Ghost as he became unable to meet Ghost's eyes that reminded him too vividly of Byakuran.

"Shouichi..." Ghost's voice was soft yet prodding, cautious yet curious, and Shouichi was a little amazed by all the emotions he could see in the other's voice – it wasn't like Ghost to express his emotions like that. Shouichi hadn't known Ghost had been able to, anyhow – asides from the brief smiles, Ghost's face was rather inexpressive. Void, one could even say.

"Did my brother come onto you?"

Shouichi nearly choked on his hot chocolate due to the blunt question, even though he had half-expected that.

"N-no!" For some reason, he also felt the heavy need of denying everything that had occurred between him and Byakuran back at the other's dorm. It was... private thing, after all, and Ghost was Byakuran's _brother_, for God's sake...!

Ghost blinked. "Your face is red, Shouichi," he pointed out, extending his hand as if to touch Shouichi's cheek but then suddenly retracting it back to his lap.

Shouichi glanced away – his stubborn attitude when it came to admitting things was a well-known trait among his friends, a group in which Ghost too belonged.

"I don't want to talk about it..." he muttered again with a frown contorting his face, and Ghost sighed quietly at the redhead's unwillingness.

"Is it because he's my brother?" he questioned quietly, sipping his own hot chocolate and silently enjoying the taste as some of the whipped cream got on his upper lip without his notice. The sight made Shouichi smile a little, the bubbling in his stomach calming down some more.

"Well, it is a bit... awkward to talk about Byakuran-san with you," Shouichi said as he pointed at his own upper lip, discreetly hinting Ghost to wipe his own lip.

Ghost, not getting the hint, blinked again.

"You have some whipped cream," Shouichi started, poking at his own upper lip more, "over there."

"Oh."

It was a simple reaction, but the look of realization on Ghost's face was so amusing that Shouichi couldn't help chuckling a little even if it was rude of him. Soon, those purple eyes crinkled in mutual amusement, and Ghost too let out a soft chuckle, but those eyes never went away from Shouichi and his face.

Thankfully, Ghost let the subject of Byakuran go and was willing to let their conversation travel to another direction – to safer, more comfortable direction.

* * *

Rokudo Mukuro was not amused, and his solemn expression more than screamed out his inward thoughts and disgust he felt this very moment as he gazed down at his pathetic excuse of a roommate that went by the extravagant name of Byakuran Gesso with whom he had the displeasure of sharing a home country, coincidentally even the city they had lived in.

Rokudo Mukuro narrowed his mismatched eyes at the slumped figure on the couch, clicking his tongue in distaste as he none too quietly dropped his bag and other things to the floor – a loud thumping sound following this action.

"Oya? What is this?" Mukuro mused out loud, lips pursing tighter in apparent displeasure. Only God knew why he was rooming with this man – or Satan, which was far more likely. Ths certainly seemed like business Satan would have his dirty hands in.

"Have you given up on life altogether, Byakuran, or what is the meaning with this sullen pose of yours?"

The man in question merely opened his eyes halfway to glance up at Mukuro. "Mukuro-kun came back early, huh? You didn't manage to get laid today either?" Byakuran sneered, a taunting smile playing on his lips – challenging Mukuro to try to lie.

Mukuro tutted, sweeping some of his over-grown indigo hair away from his face and tuckng them behind his ear, before moving to sit on Byakuran's legs on the other side of the couch, hoping to slow down Byakuran's circulatory system enough to make the other faint – it would be an effective way to make the white-haired nuisance to shut up, after all.

"Just because you're the resident playboy around this campus, _Byakuran_," Mukuro spoke all too softly, all too calmly as his differently colored eyes crinkled with concealed mirth, "and just because I happen to have the displeasure of sharing this, ah, apartment with you, it does not make us similar in the least." Mukuro enforced his point with a powerful jab to Byakuran's kneecap, feeling sadistic pleasure even though Byakuran gave no reaction to the jab.

Their relationship was beyond a simple antagonistic one, make no mistake about it.

Byakuran tilted his head lazily on the pillow he rested against, delicately shaped eyebrows raised and a thoroughly entertained smile tugging the elder student's lips up.

If Mukuro had a trident, he would be stabbing Byakuran with it right then – and Byakuran hadn't even uttered a word yet.

"Tsunayoshi-kun is too head over heels with that pretty blonde to even notice you, isn't he?" Byakuran mused out loud, though Mukuro could hear that Byakuran's voice didn't hold as much that usual teasing edge as it usually had, and that was enough to have Mukuro raise his eyebrows.

"And your pretty little redhead is too blind to notice your feelings for him," Mukuro shot back, inserting more force into his next jab at Byakuran's kneecap. Kicking it would have been far more painful, he idly thought to himself with an inward sigh.

The following silence that descended between them after those words was enough to tell Mukuro that he had hit the bull's eye with his remark – unknowingly, but he took his chances when he got them with Byakuran.

"Oh, did something happen between you and that gullible little Red Riding Hood?" Mukuro drawled out as he crossed his leg over the other one, leaning back on the couch and putting more weight on Byakuran's legs. "Please tell me he _finally _understood that you're a terrible conversionalist."

From his spiteful words, one would assume that Mukuro had a good reason to despise Byakuran, but they would be wrong. There was no reason, asides from the fact that their personalities clashed together in the worst of way, evoking irritation in both parties. Like water and oil, they were.

Byakuran merely sighed, a sign of irritation – a sign of Mukuro's words getting him.

Mukuro felt somewhat pleased with himself.

"Mukuro-kun, shut up. Or should I warn Tsunayoshi-kun of your perverted intentions?" Byakuran closed his eyes, smiling almost flippantly. Mukuro didn't buy this facade of pleasantness, of course.

"And should I walk up to Irie Shouichi and tell _him _of _your_ intentions, Byakuran?" Mukuro questioned just as pleasantly, noting the still warm pan of tea on the table along with a cup. Considering how Byakuran rarely drank tea... well, Mukuro could count two plus two very well.

A snort left Byakuran's lips – _how fitting for swine, _Mukuro mused with resentment unfitting for a university student. Ideally, he should have been enjoying this part of his life – but that was just not how things went for Rokudo Mukuro.

Enjoyment? Hah. Fun? Maybe, if a fun toy came around to please him, but that was a fleeting feeling, a rain drop in the heat of Sahara.

But as much as Mukuro resented this hellhole he had willingly came to live, it was much preferred to Italy – even if it meant that he was stuck with this brat of a roommate with the libido of a rabbit.

Well, not that Mukuro was any better in that aspect...

"You do that, Mukuro-kun, and I'll make sure you'll have two red eyes instead of just one," Byakuran interrupted Mukuro's self-reflection, words calm if not a little edgy. "Also, you have gained weight again."

"Kufufufu..." Mukuro's eyes twitched in irritation despite the laughter that bubbled from between his gritted teeth. "I'm going to take that as a 'yes, Mukuro-kun, I screwed things up between Shou-chan and me'."

How Mukuro knew about Byakuran's feelings for Irie Shouichi was not something Mukuro himself liked to think about – even though, now that he was past that experience, he should have realized it the moment he saw Byakuran and Irie Shouichi together.

Let's just say that Mukuro had once made the mistake of wandering into Byakuran's room during night time in order to pull a prank on his roommate, only to backpedal almost immediately afterwards due to certain unexpected... mumbling from Byakuran.

And that, beloved friends, was how he had discovered this potential blackmail material – except that blackmailing Byakuran never worked since Byakuran always had something up his sleeve, and Mukuro couldn't risk his reputation even for the sake of bringing Byakuran down with him.

He sighed through his nose, the noise resembling more of a snort than anything else, just ast Byakuran opened his eyes to shoot an annoyed glance at Mukuro, purple hues noticeably colder, like the freezing nights in north.

"You're being extraordinarily nosy today, Mukuro-kun," Byakuran said, eyes narrowed he tried to move his legs – both of them feeling a little numb by now, much to Mukuro's glee.

"Only because I want to revel in your failures," Mukuro crooned as grasped the tea cup from the coffee table, a crooked smile playing on his lips – that kind of smile that just screamed _I know something good_. "Apparently that little Red Riding Hood was visiting you earlier," he then continued smoothly without any transition just as Byakuran pulled his legs fully up, one foot awkwardly pressing against Mukuro's buttocks for a moment – which earned a 'tsk' from the indigo-haired young man.

"And what of it, Mukuro-kun?" Byakuran rolled his eyes good-naturedly at Mukuro's displeasure, tempted to rub his leg against Mukuro's ass some more just to piss him off. Then again, Byakuran mused as his expression turned grim once more, he'd much rather be rubbing it against Shouichi's parted-

Tongue darted out to lick at his lips, the force of his fantasies only making it harder to forget the wonderful sensation of Shouichi's pale, wonderfully soft skin flat against his palms.

"Don't tell me you're _jealous _of Shou-chan, Mukuro-kun," Byakuran continued as he leaned forward towards Mukuro, a dark gleam of curiosity blazing in the cold purple hues.

Involuntarily, Mukuro shuddered before uncrossing his legs and scooting back on the fine leather couch, red and blue eyes glaring at the near-albino before them.

"Jealous? Oya, I merely feel pity for the little Red," Mukuro retorted back, gloved hand running through his overgrown indigo hair in weak agitation. "To have attracted your attention, he must have the worst luck in this cruel world."

Byakuran narrowed his eyes further, and that moment Mukuro could swear he felt electricity in the air – a foreboding feeling before a thunder storm – and he almost reconsidered his words. Almost.

"Well," Byakuran whispered – and Mukuro strained to hear the following words, "I could say the same for Chrome-chan, too."

"Don't-" Mukuro spat, "-bring Na- Chrome into this."

Byakuran's cold, cynical and critical smile stretched on his face. "Only if your dirty mouth will stop calling Shou-chan's name so casually."

And the lightning struck.

* * *

Shouichi woke up to the feeling of his face burying itself into something warm and hard – stony, even, and he furrowed his brow at the strange feeling. A musky, strong and spicy scent surrounded him, and he sniffed, moving closer to the source of that scent. Exotic scent, something that made him think of Caribbean despite never having been there.

"Mmmm..." Shouichi groaned sleepily as awareness started to seep fully through the veil of sleep, and his senses returned to him, slowly like lights that flickered few times before they'd stay lit.

It was during that flickering of his five senses that he became vaguely aware of something wrapped around his waist, something pressing against the small of his back, something warm and secure, holding him down as if protecting him from something.

Shouichi sighed inaudibly, completely at ease though uncomfortably warm in the hold of something that was definitely not his usual worn-out blanket.

Perhaps that was what eventually made Shouichi open his eyes. For a moment, he remained still as he blinked the sleep away, his mind still very groggy and hazy and happily unaware of who he was pressed up against.

But this state didn't last long.

The first realization he had was about how his face was pressed against someone's shoulder – so that's what the hard and unexpectedly warm thing had been – and that itself was enough to have Shouichi squirm in unpleasant surprise, the events from day before fresh in his mind. Certainly he had come back to his own dorm and not stayed at Byakuran's?

"Nnh..." The arms around Shouichi tightened slightly, and long, blond hair shifted slightly, tickling at Shouichi's nose – _wait, blond hair?_

"Shouichi..." That deep voice that sounded monotonous more often than not was the last obvious clue Shouichi needed to realize that he was cuddled up against _Ghost, _and that realization was enough for Shouichi to lose the ability to breathe for the next few, painfully long seconds.

"G-ghost-san?"

Ghost's head turned slightly, arms tight around Shouichi's waist, and the redhead had no idea how to escape from this predicament without making an unnecessary scene. How had he ended up in this situation in the first place?

Shouichis swallowed thickly, happy that at least no awkward morning erections were present right now. _That_ would have killed him on the inside all too literally.

"Ghost-san, could you get off..." This friendship was still new and nowhere near that state where he could and would just kick the other off from him like he did to Byakuran whenever Byakuran was being overly friendly with him – or overly flirty.

Ghost grunted sleepily, nuzzling against Shouichi like the redhead was some precious stuffed toy without which Ghost couldn't sleep. "Don't want to..." Ghost muttered, absolutely out of it this early in the Saturday morning, and absently brought Shouichi closer, their chests pressing together.

Shouichi flushed deep red at this, the proximity becoming too much for him. "Ghost-san-" he tried against, but Ghost shook his head stubbornly, golden hair tickling Shouichi's cheek and neck as Ghost rested his head on Shouichi's shoulder.

"Five more minutes..." Ghost mumbled, dry lips moving against Shouichi's shirt the redhead often slept in. Shouichi sighed, shifting slightly, as he resigned himself to the five extra minutes of uncomfortable heat that radiated from Ghost's body. God, how had they ended up like this...?

* * *

Shouichi would make a very snuggly stuffed toy, Ghost mused to himself a few long moments later, his arms no longer around Shouichi, as his eyes raked over the page of the book he was reading. It was no longer Halmet, but Hemingway this time – another famous writer but from a different time period, and one of Ghost's favorites.

Ghost's lips formed a tiny, serene smile he hardly ever smiled, but with Shouichi around, those had become a bit more frequent. The genuine care from the redhead, the way Shouichi sputtered when embarrassed, the way Shouichi could focus on his homework so much that he'd forget to eat...

All of those things made Ghost's stomach pleasantly warm and tingly, for reasons he couldn't understand fully. He wasn't even sure why he had sneaked into Shouichi's bed in the first place – and he had actually planned to get off quickly, but then Shouichi had latched onto him, and Ghost had been unable to tear himself off from the other even though he was physically much stronger than Shouichi.

The memory of that was enough to make Ghost's stomach tingle more now, his cheeks reddening behind the book he was trying to read but mental images hindered his attempts.

Shouichi in his arms, Shouichi's intoxicating scent, Shouichi's pale pink lips.

Was this how having a crush on someone felt?

Ghost squirmed a bit at that thought, eyes reluctantly (not really) moving to Shouichi's back as the redhead busied himself with their breakfast, and that same tingle in his stomach only got stronger, travelling up inside him.

Oh, maybe this really was a crush, he mused absently, distractedly, to himself, eyes boring into Shouichi's back and noting the movements of Shouichi's arms, shoulders, _everything_.

_In which case_, Ghost mused to himself, _I really don't want brother to get you._

* * *

_Plan B it is_, Byakuran thought to himself as he marched through the dormitory area, marching to where he knew his younger brother and Shouichi were. Hot sunlight was beating down on him mercilessly, and the back of his neck was already covered in sweat by the time he made it to the door he had searched for. Late heatwaves in September were always such a drag...

Plan B was, in all of its simpleness, to just come out to Shouichi about how he felt, though Byakuran was genuinely dismayed having to do so. As wordy as he sometimes was, he liked to show his affections in a more discreet (_there's nothing discreet about your behaviour, _Shouichi's indignant voice piped up) manner – flowers, chocolate, _snuggles_. Or was the just being more direct, just without any words? Maybe. Byakuran still preferred the extravagance of all of the above over simplicity.

Drowning someone in his affections, that was just the type of thing he would do.

It was so boring to just come out about his feelings like this – marching to Shouichi, grabbing his shoulders, and then telling him that he, Byakuran, had special feelings for the redhead.

Maybe he should pull a Romeo and make this confession at least showy and dramatic enough to make Shouichi's heart pound in his chest and color to flood Shouichi's cheeks until the redhead would feel like bursting out of sheer emotion for Byakuran.

Maybe he'd get over that shyness of his and blurt out his own feelings for Byakuran, too. Wouldn't that just be wonderful?

Byakuran's smile brightened tenfold at these thoughts as he knocked cheerfully on the door – _knock knockity knock knock knock._

While the day before had been a sore disappointment for Byakuran, he would be sure to make up for that by showering Shouichi with gentle affection the redhead deserved and perhaps even return, if all went according to Byakuran's schemes.

Byakuran shook his head slightly, grinning at his wild imagination. One step at a time, Byakuran.

"...Brother?"

Byakuran blinked, not having heard the creaking of the door as it had opened, but he definitely heard this all too familiar voice of his little brother.

"Ghost-kun?"

Oh, _right. _Shou-chan and Ghost-kun lived together.

That thought was enough to ruin Byakuran's high spirits and twist the already existing knot in his stomach, though this time it had nothing to do with joyous expectation.

Well, as long as he got the chance to talk with Shou-chan, everything would be alright between them – Ghost wouldn't be able to come in between that. Byakuran smiled, a tad colder than usually.

"Ghost-kun, what a pleasure." The last time they had seen each other had ended up in a verbal, but rather one-sided, argument. "I'm here to talk to Shou-chan, though."

Ghost didn't even blink and merely stared at Byakuran with an unreadable expression on his face. "Shouichi is out," he said blankly, not budging from the door, hand hovering over the doorknow and ready to close the door again.

Byakuran raised an eyebrow, skeptical about Ghost's words. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you, Ghost-kun?"

Ghost's eyebrows twitched in return, either out of irritation or something else. "I'm not a liar. Shouichi went out to library today." Ghost snapped his mouth shut, facial muscles tensing as if he had realized that he had said too much.

"Ah, library. That does sound like Shou-chan," Byakuran mused out loud. _Well, Ghost-kun wouldn't lie to his elder brother, _he added in his mind, though he did give Ghost a scrutinizing sidelong glance. _That's just how he is~._

Ever since they had been children, Ghost had been that agonizingly honest brother while Byakuran would mercilessly manipulate people into getting what he wanted – or try to, as in some cases manipulation simply didn't seem to work _at all._

(Aka, Rokudo Goddamn Mukuro.)

"What do you want with Shouichi?" Ghost's voice was quiet, but undeniably sharp – like sharpened kitchen knife you would never want to give that creep in the horror movies – and Byakuran was actually a little taken aback by this.

"I don't think you need to know, Ghost-kun," Byakuran tutted and wiggled his finger at his little brother chastisingly. "You'll hear it from him later, maybe~?"

Ghost frowned in disapproval and grabbed Byakuran from his arm to stop the other from leaving, two pairs of purple eyes locked with one another. Fingers pressed into the fabric of Byakuran's shirt hard, probably with enough force for bruises to form on Byakuran's normally unblemished, flawless skin.

"You did something to Shouichi," Ghost accused softly, purple eyes glaring into Byakuran's amethystine ones with uncharacteristic anger. "What did you do, brother?"

Byakuran, however, was not affected. "I have _no _idea what you're talking about, Ghost-kun~." Ghost sighed, a rare show of irritation displaying on his face.

"Shouichi was upset," he said softly as he dropped his hand from Byakuran's arm after noticing that his elder brother wasn't attempting to flee from him and go to Shouichi immediately like he had assumed Byakuran would do. "You did something to upset him, brother. He didn't say what, but I _know_ it was you."

Byakuran's eyes darkened with each soft accusation that left his baby brother's lips, but for some reason he felt dark satisfaction in knowing that Shouichi had been affected by him somewhat – even if it was in such a negative way.

But then his thoughts cleared out, and Byakuran pressed his lips together in quiet dissatisfaction – Shou-chan had been upset, just as he had thought when the redhead had escaped from him after that not-quite make-out session.

"Shou-chan was upset?" Byakuran, for the life of him, couldn't understand why that thought shook him this much, even if he was more than aware of his own feelings for the redhead.

Ghost nodded. "He said nothing of it, but he seemed shaken up." Ghost decided to leave out the fact that Shouichi had needed a cold shower to calm down – it was something Byakuran didn't need to know.

The silence that fell between them then was nothing short of awkward – for Ghost, at least, as Byakuran didn't seem to know to definition of awkwardness.

"Brother..." Ghost eventually decided to speak up. "You shouldn't play around with Shouichi like that."

Byakuran opened his eyes again at that comment, as he had shut them for a while during his inward musings, and peered at Ghost's face curiously as he paid no mind to the students passing the door as he was still standing in the hallway.

Byakuran's lips parted as he started to speak up, but he shut his mouth when he took a better look into Ghost's eyes that were shining unnaturally bright, unlike all those times in their childhood and early adolescence when they had spent time, more or less arguing over minor things.

Byakuran didn't like that look in Ghost's eyes – that look of childish longing, childish want and need that he knew wasn't directed at him but to a certain person both of them knew, one better than the other.

"...You're not crushing on Shou-chan, are you, Ghost-kun?"

That thought was like a stone tied to his heart, pulling the said organ down, down, down – all the way to his stomach.

Sickening feeling, like he had just swallowed arsenic.

Ghost's expression remained nonchalantly blank, but Byakuran sensed the slight discomfort oozing off from his younger brother as he was very well tuned to his baby brother's station – or at least he liked to think so.

"You _are_," Byakuran concluded breathlessly, not sounding like he was choking even though pressure in his chest, in his lungs, seemed to increase tenfold at the realization – strangling him from the inside just as the boiling emotion of jealousy bubbled in his stomach. "My baby brother is having his first crush, how _adorable._"

One would have had to be utterly deaf to miss the venom dripping into Byakuran's voice, especially into the last word.

As it was, Ghost was not deaf.

"Brother..." he started quietly, almost shyly, seeming to slump before his brother's disapproving gaze. He had always had a bit of a brother complex – which really didn't help him now, either. "Please don't make a scene."

Byakuran hummed, inching closer to Ghost. "Then how about some heart-to-hear discussion with your big brother, ne?" he suggested, posture a tad threatening as he leaned forward, face hovering over Ghost's. "Now that Shou-chan's gone, too. It's the _perfect _timing to catch up, no?"

Ghost seemed to shrink under Byakuran's critically scrutinizing gaze, but he gave a wary nod nonetheless. "Sure..." he mumbled his consent, stepping aside to let Byakuran into the small apartment – and Byakuran couldn't help but hum in delight as he all but waltzed in.


	6. Dirty Little Secret

**title:** Two Can Play This Game, chapter 5

**characters:** Irie Shouichi, Rokudo Mukuro, Ghost, Byakuran

**warnings:** incest, questionable moral choices, Byakuran, Mukuro's cheesy nickname for Shouichi

* * *

**Chapter 5:** Dirty Little Secret

* * *

"Hey there, little Red."

Shouichi didn't react to the smooth, low voice that he recognized if only distantly, and continued flipping through his physics textbook with a concentrated furrow between his brows. He needed to study this part for the upcoming test – and there was that paper he was supposed to be writing, too...

"Ignoring me, are you?"

Shouichi's eyes stayed on the black letters on the clear, white page, taking in the rows of letters and sentences that seemed to go on and on without an end to them.

A creak of chair's legs finally made Shouichi sigh and reluctantly, he turned his attention away from the book and to the person who had oh so _inconspicuously_ seated himself on the chair next to him, mismatched eyes twinkling with eerie curiosity only Byakuran could outdo.

Shouichi pursed his lips together tightly, a familiar creeped out sensation crawling up his spine as he warily watched Mukuro and his blood-red eye, as the other one was buried under strands of indigo hair.

"...Rokudo-san." Shouichi glanced around them, wondering why Mukuro had approached _him_ of all people – they were barely acquaintances, after all. "It's... nice to see you," he ended up taking the diplomatic road of lying through his teeth with a pleasant but clearly forced smile on his lips, eyes continuously moving back to his book.

Mukuros lips curled into a cunning grin, red eye glinting ominously. "You're so stiff and formal, Little Red Riding Hood. You need to, as some say, _chill out_ every once in a while, yes?" Mukuro leaned to a side, his palm propping his head from his cheek as his elbow pressed on the table, atop one of Shouichi's books – at which Shouichi gave a disapproving squint.

"First of all," Shouichi began quietly, though nervous irritation showed on his face, "slang does not suit you at all, Mukuro-san." Though there went his formality as he used Mukuro's first name. Oh, well... "Secondly, I can't really _chill out_ right now." Exams, exams, exams, all of them approaching and assaulting the students like a hurricane, and Shouichi was getting stressed, even though he knew there was no way he was going to fail any of the scientific classes as he was extraordinarily gifted in that area.

Mukuro didn't seem to be bothered by Shouichi's carefully veiled rudeness, though the flicker in that eyes indicated that he had noticed it, and that it seemed to amuse the older student quite a lot.

"Oya, you seem to be in a bad mood, Little Red."

Shouichi's brow twitched.

"Thirdly, I do not appreciate that nickname, Mukuro-san."

Naturally, all of this was said in hushed tones, seeing how library rules expected everyone to remain relatively quiet in order to respect the fellow students who _presumably_ were there to study, although some exceptions always appeared.

Mukuro's smile stretched on his lips at Shouichi's response, a gloved hand reaching out to close the book Shouichi's hands were on before pulling the said item away from the redhead, which only made Shouichi frown at Mukuro harder. Shouichi indignantly reached for the book in Mukuro's hands, but the other made a disapproving 'tsk' sound as he waved the book before Shouichi.

"All work and no play makes Jack a _very _dull boy, Little Red," Mukuro muttered in amusement as he leaned back on his chair, putting the book back on the table.

"What is that you want with me?" Shouichi finally sighed out as he made no effort to reach for the book. He knew Mukuro's type very well – he wouldn't leave him alone until he got what he wanted, so it was better to indulge the older student (_senpai, _if he so willed, though Shouichi felt reluctant to call Mukuro by that honorific).

"I don't particularly want anything." A quirk of Mukuro's lips indicated an inside joke that Shouichi didn't get.

Another sigh left Shouichi's lips, his eyes moving towards another table where a few students were busy cramming for what he could only assume to be an upcoming English exam from the quiet mutters his ears caught.

He would have liked to be able to study, too, but... Shouichi's eyes returned to Mukuro, displeasure filling the dark green hues. He needed no disturbances, and yet here was Mukuro, destroying what could have been a nice study session.

"But," Mukuro's lips parted as he spoke again, "I suppose I am a little curious about you." A hand swept some of indigo locks away from his face, revealing the once veiled blue eye that was staring at Shouichi like he was a fairly interesting item, worth of being appraised and inspected.

_Worth of wasting time on. _

"Curious?" Shouichi scooted back on his chair, the hair bristling on the back of his neck as he got the sensation of danger to hover in the back of his mind, tingling his senses into hyper awareness. He didn't like being noticed by these kinds of people – these people whose presence just screamed trouble more than their acquaintanceship was even worth.

Byakuran, too, was one of those people...

"Curious as to how such a person as you have fallen for Byakuran's traps," Mukuro murmured, leaning closer as if not wanting to anyone else hear their conversation – as if it was a secret only they shared. "Such smart, level-headed man to go for that brat. I do not understand."

"I don't understand how our friendship is any concern to you, Mukuro-san."

"But it is. I happen to live with that leech."

"...Are you looking out for Byakuran-san's interests then?"

A burst of laughter attracted disapproving glares from students around them, which were followed by loud 'shhhh' sounds.

Mukuro didn't seem to care, but his laughter died down soon, leaving Shouichi with an annoyed feeling.

"As if," Mukuro snorted softly, dragging his voice out in a lazy drawl that might have been atttractive to some but was just ear-grating to Shouichi. "You could say that I'm looking out for _your_ interests, kouhai."

"And how is that, Mukuro... senpai?" Shouichi begrudgingly forced the word to leave his lips even though it tasted like acid on his tongue.

The way Mukuro was looking at him was making his stomach turn inside him, slowly – oh, how painstakingly slowly. It was like Mukuro was playing, toying around like a child with his favorite toy; Shouichi could hardly be compared to a toy, however.

Mukuro smiled as he inched closer, pulling the chair with him, until he was within a hair's length away from Shouichi's face – which was still a relatively considerable distance, seeing how Mukuro's hair was almost long enough to rival the Little Mermaid's.

"Byakuran," Mukuro started, humorlessly despite his smile, "is not someone you should associate yourself with, Irie Shouichi." Mukuro's eyes bore into Shouichi's green ones – reflecting something Shouichi would usually associate with concern and genuine care, but knowing Mukuro...

"It's too late for the warning, Mukuro-san."

"_Senpai._"

Blink. "Excuse me?"

"You called me senpai earlier. Do keep doing that, kouhai."

Shouichi stared at Mukuro, incredulous beyond belief. "I j-just returned the gesture, just once-" Mukuro leaned closer, effectively making Shouichi to shut his mouth and cut himself off.

Red and blue eyes gleamed, sucking Shouichi's attention away from their surroundings and chattering towards them.

"It's a very normal thing to do, though, _kouhai,_" Mukuro insisted, voice low and eyes full of intense focus as Mukuro's hand inched over to tuck fingers under Shouichi's chin. Shouichi, frozen on the place, didn't stop him, the somersaults in his stomach making him stiff as a nail.

"Mukuro-senpai..." Shouichi said, eyes still staring into Mukuro's intense ones. "I didn't heed your warning that time, so what makes you think I will do so this time?" he questioned quietly, referring back to the first time they had talked during Shouichi's first year in university. "I'm sorry, but you need to find a new victim to terrorize."

Even if Shouichi spoke in wary tones, Mukuro could see the defiance in the green depths, and it was making him amused. As was the hint of red that was rapidly growing on Shouichi's cheeks – whether from Mukuro's insinuations on his and Byakuran's relationship or anger, he still didn't know.

_Perhaps,_ Mukuro thought to himself, _I can see better why he's so interested in you, Irie Shouichi._

* * *

The small but homey kitchen was still the same, Byakuran thought to himself as he looked around, noting with inexplicable satisfaction that nothing had changed since the last time he had visited – asides from the number of plates and certain pieces of furniture, but putting those changes aside, everything was just as he rememebred it to be.

Even Shouichi's laptop was on the same place where he had remembered it to be – on the edge of the white, cheap kitchen table, in danger of falling from the table. Byakuran discreetly nudged the laptop more onto the table, knowing what kind of bitch fit Shouichi would throw if it were to fall and get broken.

Byakuran felt Ghost's wary eyes on him as he moved about, ignoring his little brother for the time being as he enjoyed the homey feeling he always got in Shouichi's small, terribly cramped apartment.

Oh, how wonderful it had been when it had been just the two of them playing Choice here on this little table. The excitement rushing through his veins when Shouichi would make an unexpected and yet so dangerously smart move on the board had been intoxicating for Byakuran – or rather, that excited yet contained smile on Shouichi's face had been that.

That beautiful, beautiful, _beautiful_ smile.

_Ah, _Byakuran released a sigh as his hand swept away the white bangs from his forehead. _You do such cruel things to me without even trying, Shou-chan._

"You wanted to talk, brother," Ghost's voice sounded tiny, submissive, and Byakuran was satisfied with that in a sadistic way, as always.

"Yes," Byakuran murmured, eyes gazing through the window, intent on the green yard that stretched all the way to the main campus. "I believe we should have done this quite a few days earlier – when you came to this university, in fact."

Ghost remained silent as he sat down on one of the chairs around the table, the quiet shriek of the chair's legs being the only sound that filled the silence for now.

Byakuran remained still, unmoving on his place. "Ghost-kun... What is it that you came here for?"

"I wanted to see Shouichi."

_You have no right, Ghost-kun._ "Why?"

"To see what kind of person brother has set his eyes on."

Byakuran's lips quirked at that comment, and he finally turned his eyes towards his baby brother, for the first time during this conversation.

"Ghost-kun," Byakuran spoke, his voice oh so soft, but his eyes harder than diamonds as they peered at Ghost. "Do you not trust in me when it comes to picking my own partners?"

Ghost remained still under that heavy, meaningful gaze, though his expression softened into a submisssive one – but the hard, stubborn determination remained in his eyes, and that annoyed Byakuran to an extent. They really were brothers – sharing the same stubborn streak as the other.

"Or, could it be," Byakuran's voice dropped a notch, "that Ghost-kun was _jealous_ of Shou-chan?"

A step forwards, towards Ghost, with a playful smile on his lips, both his posture and smile promising sweet danger and sweet nothings.

Ghost said nothing, but his eyes narrowed slightly as Byakuran took another step closer. Hands clutching at the fabric of his worn-out jeans, Ghost tried not to remember – tried to forget the hot summers in Italy, summers of experimentation and secrets kept from family and friends.

Secrets only his older brother knew as he had been the one to create them, in the first place.

Dirty little secrets that a fourteen-year-old Ghost hadn't thought to be bad or sinful in any way.

Ghost allowed a tiny smile to pull his lips up – a smile that he had only ever presented to Byakuran before he had moved in with Shouichi.

"Jealous of Shou-chan hogging all of my attention?" Byakuran continued, a cruel glint in his eyes as he closed the distance between them and cupped Ghost's cold cheek with his own hand, a thumb flicking out to draw circles on the skin. "Oh, Ghost-kun, how _petty_ of you."

_Hypocrite_, Ghost wanted to say, and perhaps that was what his eyes reflected, seeing how Byakuran's own pair narrowed further.

Byakuran's hand moved smoothly, like a snake, down to Ghost's chin, pushing Ghost's face up slightly before bringing his own face to hover over Ghost's visage – over the pale lips.

"Ghost-kun was so cute when I left him," Byakuran murmured, breath dancing across Ghost's face, making Ghost's skin crawl in the most pleasant ways – just like back in Italy. "Do you remember?"

Byakuran's other hand pressed down on Ghost's shoulder, moving to the side of the younger's neck, to the conjecture between shoulder and neck, and fingers moved on the skin gently, movements as light as air.

Memories of better (or were they really better?) times crashed in, and Ghost inhaled sharply, eyes half-lidded as he gazed up into his big brother's eyes.

"_Does brother really have to leave me?" _

Ghost nodded slightly as his skin tingled – both at the memories and Byakuran's deceptively gentle touches.

"_Mmm, I got a scholarship to this university, Ghost-kun." _

"I remember," Ghost affirmed in a whisper just as Byakuran's lips hovered over his, the hot breath on his face making Ghost squirm uncomfortably. "Brother..."

"_Brother..."_ And just like in the present, Ghost had called out to Byakuran, but unlike in the present, his clumsy, thin arms had reached out for the other, too, in search for comfort or false promises of always thinking of Ghost.

No such promise had ever left Byakuran's lips, but Ghost had wordlessly promised to wait – to wait for his beloved brother as long as it took.

And now, he was there, before him, with his blazing violet eyes.

Ghost closed his eyes fully as he leaned up slightly, allowing their lips to brush against one another in the sweetest, cruelest way of possible. Byakuran smiled against him, pressing into the kiss carefully, his hand moving up from Ghost's cheek to that golden blond hair, fingers grasping the locks firmly yet kindly.

Ghost's heart ached as an unwilled sigh left his lips as his head was tilted to a side by Byakuran's hand for better angle. _Brother-_

It was just like before: Byakuran pulling, goading him into this tango of caresses and kisses, and Ghost allowing everything, his heart filled to the brim until it hurt, until his understanding was not enough to solve the mystery of the reactions of his heart and body.

"_Don't worry, Ghost-kun. I'll make sure to write you lots of letters."_

Ghost had treasured those letters, even though he had felt slightly confused why Byakuran bothered with handwritten letters at this present time.

Byakuran's teeth scraped against his lower lip, pulling and tugging until Ghost parted his lips, giving into Byakuran's advances, letting that insistent and familiar, hot tongue to dive into his mouth.

Ghost whined softly when Byakuran's tongue rubbed against his, the feeling all too foreign after all these years – but it was enough to evoke similar feelings than the ones he had had back then. That longing, that painful want, that heartwrenching emotion that kept Ghost up during long, starless nights.

A throaty groan escaped Ghost's mouth as Byakuran's mouth languidly inspected every corner of his mouth, a hand stroking at the back of the younger brother's head..

Growing up in a deeply traditional Roman Catholic family had left its traces; one of those being the heartpulling sense of guilt that gnawed at his heart every time he would succumb to his brother this way.

Ghost's hands moved up to drape themselves over Byakuran's shoulders, wet sounds of their heated battle sending shudders down his spine and blood flowing to his cheeks. Delicious kiss. His brother was intoxicating, always had been. Like poison... Like a drug. Once you got hooked, there was no going back.

Ghost whined, rubbing his tongue against Byakuran's in return,, as his arms pulled Byakuran closer – or tried to, anyway, as Byakuran suddenly pulled back from the kiss, a thin line of saliva connecting their mouths before breaking in two.

Ghost swallowed thickly. It was wrong, _wrong_ to feel this way after all this time, especially towards his own big brother – and then there were those blooming feelings for Shouichi. Completely different in quality and intensity, but there was something similar.

Byakuran chuckled, voice lower than usual, as his hand returned to Ghost's cheek, tucking some of those golden strands behind his little brother's ear before a finger caressed over the mark underneath Ghost's right eye.

"Ghost-kun..." Byakuran spoke quietly, eyes half-open and intense violet boring into Ghost's figure on the chair. Icy fire burnt within his eyes, cold just like Ghost's heart when he had been left alone in Italy.

Ghost parted his lips, but found himself unable to form words as he still needed to catch his breath and his mind was completely blank from words to say, things to tell to his brother.

"You don't know how much I like Shou-chan," Byakuran whispered nastily, fingers twitching as they trailed on Ghost's face, stroking gently, lovingly. Ghost leaned into the touches despite them being emotionally fake, void of the care Byakuran had once shown him.

But he needed his brother like a flower needed water. Without Byakuran, Ghost would wither – disappear into nothingness, into a black hole.

_Shouichi._

Even in the midst of the black hole, there was something worth holding on to – if he were to slip again.

_Shouichi. _

A friend.

"I know," Ghost whispered, voice choked as he stared up reverently at his brother. "I know, brother." His arms slackened their hold over Byakuran's neck, dropping back to Ghost's lap, and Ghost sighed quietly, licking his lower lip absently.

Byakuran hummed, eyes half-lidded and intently gazing at Ghost, as he pulled Ghost up from the chair by the arm. "Then why," he questioned softly as he tugged Ghost along with him towards the bedroom, "are you so intent on doing this, Ghost-kun? Even if you're crushing on him."

Ghost let himself be pulled, thinking over his answer. "I'm not doing anything," he whispered just as he was taken into the room he and Shouichi slept in.

Byakuran tutted in disapproval, pushing Ghost over onto Shouichi's bed as soon as they reached it – and, of course, Byakuran climbed onto the bed, over Ghost and pinned his little brother against the mattress.

"But you are," Byakuran murmured, eyes half-lidded as he shifted himself on top of Ghost, deliberately evading the more intimate areas. "I checked the papers. You were supposed to room with Gokudera Hayato-kun, weren't you?" Byakuran's hand smoothed the wrinkles off Ghost's shirt, fingers halting to play with the buttons for a moment, but his eyes remained on Ghost's face. This was nothing short from being an interrogation, no matter how unorthodox the method was.

"But then you became Shou-chan's roommate instead," Byakuran breathed out, the accusing tone seeping into his voice, venom dripping from his lips with each word despite the sweeter-then-honey smile that was still in its place. "Care to tell me how this is not you messing around, Ghost-kun?"

Ghost's face contorted slightly, unwarranted (warranted in the eyes of Byakuran) guilt flashing in his eyes, and Byakuran felt contented that Ghost could never hide anything from his dear big brother. Never.

"I just..." Ghost murmured as his eyes slid closed when he felt Byakuran's hand unbuttoning the first button of his shirt. "I just wanted to see what big brother's hype was all about." A hand reached out, brushing against Byakuran's cheek as their eye contact remained unbroken. Soft skin, very much like his own.

"Are you satisfied yet, Ghost-kun?" Byakuran murmured, leaning into the touch as a soft, tender smile appeared on his own face. He sniffed as he leaned closer, whispering quietly, "Can you smell Shou-chan's scent here?" His eyes closed fully, and Byakuran sighed wistfully. "Because I can."

_Shouichi's scent..._

Something tugged at his heart, and Ghost tilted his head on the pillow he had lain against only mere hours before with the redhead, sniffing and sighing softly as the warm, comforting scent from the pillow reached his nose. Like hazel nuts, Ghost thought distantly as Byakuran leaned lower, sniffing at Shouichi's pillow to make a point.

Ghost idly noted the bulge in Byakuran's pants as Byakuran pressed down on him, which elicited a nearly unnoticeable breath of surprise from the younger Gesso.

This, too, was familiar.

"Brother, why are you-"

Byakuran lifted his head, moving over to Ghost's exposed neck to suckle at the skin, teeth sinking into the tender flesh – very much like when a lioness caught her prey, with the same ferocity, same hurried lust, same hungry growl.

"Brother-" Ghost swallowed when Byakuran sucked at the skin as those hands worked on Ghost's button-up shirt. "Brother!" Ghost raised his voice in alarm. "Stop, Shouichi might-"

Byakuran raised his head slightly to allow Ghost to catch a glimpse of his stormy violet eyes, a sneer on Byakuran's pale lips.

"Ghost-kun," Byakuran started as he lazily stroked Ghost's stomach – _so different to Shou-chan's soft stomach, _he mused with dismay – and gazed down at Ghost, "which one do you want more?"

He needed to say no more – it was obvious what he meant, and Byakuran could see it from the eyes of his brother that Ghost understood the implication.

The bed creaked underneath them, but neither of them took notice.

"...You," Ghost answered lowly, _reluctantly._ Feelings of past were hard to wipe, he had to admit to himself as he looked up at the face of his beloved brother. "It's always you, brother," he murmured softly, returning a hand to Byakuran's cheek and running a finger over Byakuran's tattoo.

He knew his words to be true – he had always been weak for Byakuran, through the childhood games and through the teenage hormons that had driven them to inexcusable sins.

And that smile that brightened Byakuran's expression, a direct result from Ghost's words, made Ghost's heart flip and tug painfully. Heartache, he supposed, was the name for this sensation. Byakuran's smile had always managed to pierce through him in the nastiest ways, that brightness yet underlying deviousness blinding and hurting him in the process.

Byakuran was like the sun – ah, no, that was not an adequate comparison.

Byakuran was the all-encompassing sky – devouring and holding everything, leaving everything and anything at his fickle moods' mercy. Neverending.

Ghost stared up almost reverently.

The fact that they were on Shouichi's bed in the most compromising possible position tugged at his mind, but he disregarded it for now – for the sake of looking at this face, for the sake of memorizing the face that was much more adult-like, much more experience, than the one he had painted in his memories when Byakuran had left Italy – and Ghost – behind.

"See," Byakuran's voice was now soft as a feather, tickling Ghost's mind in the way only Byakuran could manage, "you don't need anyone else, Ghost-kun." Byakuran leaned down to press their lips together in a sweet, tormenting kiss that lingered for a moment too long. "Just me is enough."

And even though Ghost knew Byakuran made no promises of love or of him needing only Ghost to feel satisfied and whole – like Ghost did -, the younger brother of the duo was satisfied.

Such a masochist he was for Byakuran – to yearn for the love that was impossible and denied by the societies everywhere he looked.

Perhaps – perhaps he had done this all out of jealousy?

Ghost pondered over that stupefying thought for a moment before giving up on finding any concrete answers to it.

Byakuran was here, with him – no matter what intentions his brother had, that was all that mattered.

* * *

In the end, studying had ended up being more like a hushed conversation session between Rokudo Mukuro and him, a fact which annoyed Shouichi to a level his annoyance had never quite reached before this day – and, for God's sake, he had Byakuran as his intrusive, ridiculous, and incredibly strong-willed best friend.

Incredibly _perverted_ friend, as well, especially considering the events that had taken place in Byakuran's apartment...

...and what _could_ have happened.

Shouichi shuddered at the memory as he turned up the volume of his iPhone, the calming music roaring into his ears as he marched through the campus, evading people as well as he could even though the campus was bustling with life even if there were no lectures to attend to.

Mukuro was... an enigma Shouichi didn't want to even attempt to begin solving, and this latest encounter only enforced that feeling inside him.

There was something not quite right about that guy, but then again, same went with Byakuran. Sad fact was that Shouichi was already too fond of Byakuran to give up their friendship – or whatever their relationship was; he wasn't quite sure how to classify it anymore.

And being unable to sort things out in separate mental folders really drove him up the walls, quite literally. He liked having things sorted out in his life, thank you very much – even though that didn't mean that he liked predictable life. Just well-sorted one.

Anyway, he returned to his dorm with the headphones around his neck and the rock music blaring enough for him to distinguish the lyrics, which his mouth moved along with as he had a small habit of singing to himself when he was left alone in his own devices with headphones and a working iPod.

What waited him back in his apartment, well... chaos would be exaggerating, but it was certainly unexpected to see Byakuran and Ghost lounging in the kitchen when he returned.

Shouichi blinked.

Twice.

Make that three.

"Don't you have your psychology paper to write, Byakuran-san?"

Twin set of violet eyes turned to his direction, and Shouichi had the weirdest feeling fall over him that moment – like he was being watched by two Byakurans. Two identically smiling Byakurans.

That was not a very good feeling, let Shouichi tell you that. Even though Ghost was distinctively different from Byakuran (the hair!), the similarities outweighed the differences this moment, and Shouichi didn't even know _why_.

"Hm, I have finished gathering sources right about now," Byakuran merely shrugged as he fed his brother a marshmallow. Shouichi raised his eyebrows at the sight. Byakuran himself had told him that they weren't on very good terms – and yet here Byakuran was, feeding those sugary treats to Ghost.

It was like he had just stepped into a parallel universe, so to speak. Sighing, Shouichi mused that this was probably how Luke Skywalker had first felt when Darth Vader had turned out to be his father – except that there were no obscure family relations in this... oh, wait, there was.

"Lazing around will do you no good," Shouichi prompted as he dropped the bag from his shoulders, allowing it to meet the floor with a small thud accompanying the small, insignificant event. Shouichi absently leaned over to take his laptop from the table, pulling off the cord that connected it to the wall, before switching it on.

Irritation from meeting Mukuro had still not dissipated completely, and it clawed at the edges of his mind as he took a seat by Byakuran's side, absent-mindedly and not noticing the spark that ignited Byakuran's eyes. The line of Ghost's lips formed also went unnoticed.

The warning Mukuro had given him, with such an uncharacteristically serious expression that it almost seemed like a dream now, echoed in his mind as Byakuran leaned over his shoulder to peek at what the redhead was doing.

"You're turning Choice into a computer game?" Byakuran sounded unnaturally pleased, even though Shouichi had clearly told him of this all those weeks ago when he had begun the painful, agonizing process of making this into reality. In virtual world, that is.

Shouichi sighed. "Yeah. I told you about it, didn't I? I even asked you if you wanted to add some things of your own..."

Byakuran hummed – his warm breath fanning at Shouichi's cheek and neck as Byakuran craned his own neck to see better.

Ghost's narrowed eyes went unnoticed by both of them.

Byakuran hummed lowly, eyes on the screen. "I guess I forgot? Shou-chan knows that I have a bit of difficulty in remembering the small things..."

_Liar, liar, pants on fire,_ Shouichi wanted to say. Byakuran _always_ remembered, even the smallest of things – although only when it was beneficial for him, Shouichi supposed as he pinched at his nose out of irritation. And he made sure to say that last thought out loud, as well.

Byakuran merely laughed it off, as usual, and even Ghost cracked a tiny smile that seemed a bit off, somehow, but Shouichi's attention span was either incredibly short or he was just that focused on Byakuran's presence.

It was the latter, in case you were wondering.

In any case, the pressing feeling in his chest that had lingered there ever since that less than innocent session at Byakuran's place started to ease off, if only a little, due to the relief of normalcy between him and Byakuran.

Maybe things would be alright, after all.


	7. Let's Play Pretend

**title:** Two Can Play This Game, chapter 6

**characters:** Irie Shouichi, Byakuran, Hibari Kyouya, Sasagawa Ryohei

**summary:** Choice and preposterous propositions.

* * *

**Chapter 6:** Let's Play Pretend

* * *

The thing about university is that, despite all the movies that glorify the sexual escapades and experiments, it really does require some hard, bone-crushing _work_. If getting in was the happiest moment of your life, then you'd better do a good job at studying at a level that also keeps you in the university's standard levels.

Byakuran was one of those lucky fuckers that just seemed to be able to slide through courses without ever putting in _too_ much effort, and Shouichi silently envied him for that. Well, _silently _would be a little odd choice of word here – he did complain about it to Spanner on weekly basis, so there went his oath of silence when it came to that.

Anyway, the point was that Byakuran hardly ever had to really struggle to pass or to get a more than just a decent grade.

Which was a miracle, Shouichi thought, when you look at the way Byakuran wasted his spare time, doing absolutely nothing useful and just indulged himself with whatever he found interesting.

Just like now.

"Oh, hey, Shou-chan."

Shouichi didn't remember giving Byakuran the permission to lie on _his _bed in _his_ bedroom in _his _godforsaken apartment.

Shouichi glanced at the other bed in the room – suspiciously empty and tidily made – before releasing a tired sigh as he ungracefully threw his bag in the corner before gathering the mental strength to stand up to Byakuran's energetic silliness.

Ghost wasn't there, so he could let his temper fully out. (For some reason, Ghost had a calming effect on him – the guy was so serene and imperturbable most of the time that it might just be rubbing off on him.)

"Don't just 'oh, hey' me, Byakuran-san," Shouichi started strainedly as, for the hundredth time that week, he wondered just what had possessed him to befriend this person.

...Oh, right, Byakuran hadn't exactly given him any chances, and had just sort of whisked him away to the world of games and peculiar arguments and embarrassing moments. The last one of those happened more regularly than Shouichi would have liked them to, honestly.

"How did you get in?"

Byakuran smiled innocently as he sleepily snuggled against a pillow. Those violet eyes were still sleep-hazed, too. How wonderful, Byakuran had napped on his bed for whatever reasons.

The whole stomach rubbing incident was already in the past, but that didn't mean Shouichi had forgotten or erased it from his mind. Oh, how he would have liked that – but _no_. Sometimes his mind betrayed him by moving back to that evening, regardless of Shouichi's personal wishes of never touching that memory again.

"Ghost-kun."

Shouichi almost missed that softly spoken name as his attention had been on Byakuran's bedhair that was just as bad as Shouichi's... usual hair when it came to messiness.

Don't ask him why he liked Byakuran's bedhair. Just don't.

Or why he paid attention to Byakuran's appearance even after all these months.

You wouldn't like the answer – or, to be more precise, _Shouichi_ wouldn't like the answer.

"Ghost-san?" Shouichi repeated the name as he settled to glaring at Byakuran expectantly as he hovered above the older man. (Sometimes he wondered if Byakuran had faked his ID and birth certificate to get into university. Maybe some growth hormone abuse also.)

Byakuran blinked as he lazily rolled over his stomach on the bed, tilting his head so that his cheek pressed against the pillow while he glanced up at Shouichi. "Yup," he confirmed cheerily, though the following yawn broke that tone a bit.

"Since when have you two been in such good relations?" Shouichi wondered out loud as he gave up and went to sit on Ghost's bed – Byakuran's violet eyes narrowing in response, but the redhead failed to notice that. Like so many other things.

"Oh, we made up. Somewhat." Byakuran's belittling tone didn't convince Shouichi; if anything, it only made him more suspicious of the way those two got along and actually spent time together.

Byakuran's warning when they had first discussed Ghost burned vividly in his mind, after all.

"Never mind that, though," Byakuran murmured then, eyes closing as a contended smile pulled at his lips. "Shou-chan's finished with programming Choice soon, right?"

So this time Byakuran remembered – and Shouichi felt a little happy about it, too, though he tried not to show it outwardly and instead focused his gaze on his socks. Normal cotton socks that his Mom had bought him once upon a time from sales. Not really important either, but they made him miss his home a bit more.

"I'm about 70% done with the programming by now," Shouichi said, eyes still on his natural white socks. "If I really try, it should be finished within next 73 hours or so. There are some glitches I need to take care of too before I can call it done."

Byakuran let out an enthusiastic whining sound – _that_ had to be some sort of accomplishment, Shouichi thought as he looked up hesitantly.

"Shou-chan can do it," Byakuran smiled up at his friend (for now) from the bed. "He's a genius, after all."

And those words certainly hit the right spot, stroking Shouichi's ego as a programmer and making it grow to new heights – even though he tried not to appear affected as he cleared his throat.

He also wasn't blushing at the compliment out of sheer pleasure. Of course not. That tint on his cheeks was simply because the air conditioning was working a bit too well and he was cold. Yeah.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere, Byakuran-san," Shouichi uttered simply as a small smile snaked its way up to his lips and lighting up his eyes,

Byakuran's smile immediately turned into a smirk, as if on a cue. "It's worked for me plenty of times before~."

"I did _not _need to know that," Shouichi retorted, an exasperated yet fond glint in his eyes. "Anyway, Ghost-san and you... have made up?" he questioned as his curiosity wouldn't let that topic go away this easily.

He didn't know why the concept of Byakuran and Ghost making up was disturbing him, but it was – after all, he had seen the slightest bit of contempt in Byakuran's eyes when he had talked about Ghost... was it a month now since then? Probably.

And a few weeks since he had first time surprised Ghost and Byakuran alone with each other in the apartment, which normally wouldn't be surprising since Byakuran had taken up the habit of coming over whenever he felt like it during Shouichi's first year _after_ the redhead had reluctantly allowed Byakuran to do so.

Relentless persistence on Byakuran's part might have been a part of it.

"Hmm, it should be obvious by now, Shou-chan," Byakuran murmured as he rubbed the rest of the sleep away from his eyes before pulling himself up into a sitting position on the bed. "Holding onto old grudges would be petty, after all." _Even if the grudge was not old. Petty, maybe, but not old. _

And he was lying through his teeth, but what Shouichi didn't know couldn't possibly hurt him, right?

"If you say so." Shouichi's expression hinted suspicion, but it disappeared soon after as the redhead gave up. Byakuran grinned. Good thing Shouichi was easy enough to fool or, at least, the redhead wasn't interested in digging up the truth right now.

"Speaking of Choice, Shou-chan," Byakuran's voice went low as if he was suggesting something less than decent, "how about we play that right now?"

Choice was the game they had spent time on developing during their first year, and they had played it too many times for either of them to remember the exact number.

(527, Shouichi would guess if he was dared to.)

And, much to Byakuran's amusement and joy, Shouichi's eyes lit up like fluorescent neon lights in the darkness of nights. It was not a secret that Shouichi loved these sorts of strategy games, and that it was one of his favorite activity to waste time.

"Sure," Shouichi said, though his voice hardly contained his interest. After a hard day of studying at library, Choice was just the best thing to relax him – and to revive his fried brain cells, of course.

Byakuran smiled knowingly as he got up from Shouichi's bed – oh so comfortable bed – and extended a hand to Shouichi. "Let's start, then," Byakuran grinned, and Shouichi shot a small smile at Byakuran as he accepted the hand without a complaint.

They had returned to their simple camarederie, for now.

* * *

Hibari Kyouya's mood swings were almost as volatile as pregnant woman's.

_Almost_.

He didn't have any special, unexpected cravings, though – no shocking craving for chocolate or vanilla, hell no.

If he had a craving, that would be pain, but that was a secret he kept to himself... for most part.

Hibari's steely, dark grey that bordered being black, eyes glanced down at his bruised knuckles, dull pain radiating up his hands as he inspected their outer appearance.

He was masochist, just a little bit, but the world would never know that humiliating fact as long as it was up to Hibari himself.

Releasing a sigh he had been holding, the dark-haired Japanese raised one of his aching hands and ran it through his sweaty, tousled up hair that ironically resembled a bird's nest.

Who would have thought that someone like him would take up boxing?

Hibari didn't appreciate the sport all that much, but he had to admit that he appreciated the feeling of breaking someone's jaw very much, even though he always deadpanned it as an accident when people above average in courage dared to question.

Hibari had just finished changing out from his boxing outfit – or, more like, finished putting actual clothes on. It was a disgraceful outfit, especially since some perverts always came to leer at him during the practice matches.

Alas, he could not bite them to death as his tonfas had been confiscated upon his arrival to the university, and fist fights were not allowed unless you wanted to get thrown out.

No special treatment for Hibari Kyouya in this aspect, either, no matter how disgruntled it made him.

"Hey, Hibari!"

Idiotic senpai was the least of his problems, although it was definitely one of the more annoying ones.

Oh, how he wished he would be able to bite him to death.

But no. He needed education. Therefore no unnecessary fighting.

...Well, there was _one_ person he would be more than happy to throw away his education for, just for the sake of seeing that face covered in blood.

Hibari sighed, irritation written all over his face as he slammed his locker door shut and turned his eyes in the direction of his boxing senpai – or that's how Sasagawa Ryohei wanted Hibari to call him, for some herbivorous reason Hibari could not understand nor did he even bother to try to.

"Sasagawa," Hibari replied tensely as he buttoned his shirt up neatly with his aching fingers, trying his best to ignore Sasagawa Ryohei's voice that could rival Superbi Squalo's in volume.

And _that_, dear children, said a lot.

(Superbi Squalo, in case you didn't know, was the head of one of the various street gangs around the city. Hibari, naturally, disapproved of this shit, but his tonfas...)

"Your loud voice is grating to listen to."

Ryohei didn't seem bothered by Hibari's omnipresent grumpiness; he had learnt to ignore it as time had passed, even though that didn't mean he could avoid conflict with the raven, especially not in the ring when they sparred.

"Your spar with that guy was _extreme_!" Ryohei proceeded to announce, and Hibari was sure even elephants would have lost in terms of volume. "Good job!"

Hibari snarled, upper teeth clashing with his lower row, before narrowing his eyes at the fellow boxer. "Zip it, Sasagawa."

Looking back on his _spar_ (if it could be called that – Hibari had totally beaten his opponent up), Hibari had to admit that he felt a sense of eerie self-assurance. Fighting, of any kind, simply made him feel _alive – _that adrenaline rush in his veins was like an addiction to him, and it made him feel giddy every time he was in the ring, or facing off someone else in any kind of match, no matter how one-sided it was.

Ryohei's surprisingly perceptive gaze didn't show even a flicker of fear as the well-built medical student walked across the room, to Hibari – who was bristling like a cornered cat.

Ryohei, if anything, was really good at disobeying Hibari's wishes for a thing called personal space, and it was only one of several things that made the younger Japanese man want to castrate Ryohei in the most painful way possible. Or bite to death, whichever was more suitable punishment, but Hibari had grown to realize that the latter had some unwanted insinuations within it.

"Anyway," Ryohei started casually as an amicable smile tugged his lips up, and Hibari silently marveled in dull disnterest at the pearly white teeth Ryohei had, "some creepy guy told me to give this to 'Kyou-kun'." Ryohei's brow knitted in confusion for a moment as he waved a letter before Hibari's face.

Steely grey eyes narrowed into a menacing glare as Hibari snatched the letter from Ryohei's hands. The fellow boxer was a bit startled, and Hibari found sadistic enjoyment from that.

Hey, when you can't use your tonfas to beat people senseless, you had to find _something_ to amuse yourself, even if it was only cheap when comparison to whacking people to hospitals and whatnot.

"Some creepy guy?" Hibari repeated with disinterested tone as he eyed the envelope with a critical eyes. _Hibari Kyouya,_ the front of the envelope announced, so he supposed the letter really was for him. Huh, weird. He didn't have many associates he could call friends around these parts, much less people he'd expect to get messages from.

Eventually, his impatience got the better off him, and he ripped the envelope open, just as Ryohei continued his account of what exactly had happened.

"Yeah, I swear he had this extremely weird hair style, too," Ryohei mused out loud, a finger tapping at his chin few times as he fell deeper into his thoughts. "Who the heck styles their hair after a pineapple?"

Hibari nearly sputtered – that was the strongest reaction _anything_ would get out of him, asides from the glares and a possible fist to the face.

_Hell no, _Hibari thought to himself as he fixed Ryohei the darkest glare he could muster – and let me tell you, that look has made puppies all over the world whimper and pee as they scurried away from the one and only Hibari Kyouya.

Alas, Sasagawa Ryohei was no dog.

Although he certainly had quite a bark in him.

"That guy... wouldn't happen to be Rokudo Mukuro, would it?" Hibari spat through his gritted teeth as his eyes returned to the letter at his hands that trembled with anticipation and barely withheld rage.

Hibari didn't even need to listen to Ryohei's confused (_loud) _queries about this Rokudo guy ('who really seems to come straight from the pages of Vogue or something?') since the fine (in fucking _italics_ for whatever's sake) handwriting on the paper before his eyes was more than enough to work as a conclusive proof.

_Rokudo Mukuro._

And as if to spite Hibari, that pineapple-hairstyled bastard had even signed the letter, as though Hibari wouldn't have had any idea who the mastermind behind this letter was.

Hibari's stormy eyes moved languidly over the words, his temper flaring more and more at each word his eyes took in.

_Dear Hibari Kyouya-chan-_

That first part was enough to have Hibari roll his eyes and for his temper to rise to the level of a PMSing woman. And as Hibari himself had learn, there's no greater source of rage than a PMSing (or pregnant) woman.

And Superbi Squalo, but hey, to Hibari there was no difference.

_I am holding a wonderful, drink-tastic party next week's Saturday, and you too are invited in this lapse of common sense I have. _

_You __**must**__ come, and no tonfas this time, little birdie. _

Much to Hibari's bafflement (and ever-growing irritation), Rokudo Fucking Mukuro had scribbled a small picture of what seemed to be a lotus flower next to the word _'_birdie'.

Someone might have taken the time to appreciate Mukuro's artistic skills on the flower – some might have even praised the blessed little thing – but Hibari Kyouya, as stated, had the temper of an enraged bull or a PMSing woman.

So – Hibari crushed the letter as he clenched his hand into a fist – knuckle turning white and nails digging into the skin of his palm through the paper – before he slammed his fist against one of the locker doors, a low snarl escaping his mouth.

Ryohei might not be the brightest when it came to social etiquette and proper usage of volume, but he definitely realized that he ought to get the hell away from there.

After all, he wasn't supposed to do boxing outside the ring or the gym, like his trainer (nicknamed Knuckle for some strange reason) had told him patiently quite a few times.

"Uh, I'm off to gather new extreme proteges for this boxing team, then!" And with the gracefulness of a turtle and speed of a cheetah, Sasagawa Ryohei was OUT.

Loud cursing and clattering sounds could be heard throughout the building as Hibari vented his anger in the locker room in the only way knew – the physical way.

* * *

"You lost."

Shouichi pursed his lips at the announcement, and a dreadful feeling was making a good mess of his stomach as Byakuran's gleeful eyes stared at him from the other side of the table.

He was not a sore loser, but he was competitive to an extent – and right now, Shouichi was nearly biting his nails out of the sheer frustration of loss. _One_ move and he could have turned the tables! One move!

Shouichi sighed in defeat as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose, gently pushing his glasses back up from where they had slid down to. "Yeah," he agreed reluctantly as he started to put the boardgame away, fingers nimbly picking the pieces and the board up before folding it and placing it into its case.

Meanwhile Byakuran looked all sorts of satisfied, for which Shouichi felt his heart flutter a bit -. there was this strange glow in Byakuran that only showed when he smiled genuinely, and right now Shouichi saw and sensed that glow attached in the curve of Byakuran's lips, in the twinkle of his eyes, and in the smooth brow.

It was one of those things that made Byakuran rather attractive, and Shouichi had to admit that, though reluctantly.

"So, what is it this time?" Shouichi asked as he pushed the box away. They'd always demand something from the loser, after all – no doubt, this time would be no different.

Byakuran leaned back on his chair, that smile widening on his lips as he uttered, "A date."

Shouichi promptly froze on his own seat – eyes widening as he realized what Byakuran had just said, then narrowing as he tired to convince himself that he had misheard Byakuran, and then widening against when he realized that he _had_ heard Byakuran right, and this realization led to him nearly choking on air.

"What?" Shouichi asked rather bluntly, still wondering whether he had heard Byakuran completely wrong.

"I want you to go out on a date with me, Shou-chan."

"Excuse me, I think my ears have moss in them. What did you say?"

"D-A-T-E, Shou-chan." Byakuran pointed a finger at Shouichi before turning it around to point at himself. "With me."

There were at least a dozen of reasons as to why Shouichi found this idea, well, _very _and _extremely_ **bad**, and for a moment he had to struggle with himself to not blurt out anything he might regret.

"Why?"

Byakuran giggled. "Why not?"

Shouichi stared. "There are plenty of reasons why that is a very bad idea, Byakuran-san..."

_I don't want our friendship to turn into something more complicated._

Byakuran stared back as he reached for Shouichi's hand, and when he found it, he squeezed it with his own; Shouichi, surprisingly, allowed this small affection.

"I really, really want Shou-chan to like me as much as I like him," Byakuran murmured as his thumb caressed at the back of Shouichi hand, the movement gentle and honest and enough to make Shouichi's heart pound all over again, even though there were no feelings _whatsoever_-

Byakuran's eyes were pleading him to say yes, and the denial Shouichi had been about to utter died on his lips.

"I... One date," Shouichi agreed quietly, shrinking a little on his seat as he glanced away with a faint blush adorning his cheeks.

Shouichi could feel Byakuran's eyes on him, and he blushed harder, cheeks practically ablaze with embarrassment and self-consciousness he had yet to rid himself of.

Byakuran sounded distinctly cheerier than before when he talked. "That's_ all_ I need, Shou-chan."

Shouichi scowled. "Just don't get any strange ideas, Byakuran-san."

"When do I ever~?"

"Only in every breath you take."

"Aw, that's mean, Shou-chan."

"You're the mean one by requestion something so absurd as your prize."

Byakuran's lips curled into a pout, cheeks puffing out. "Come on, it's not absurd. Shou-chan knows it, doesn't he? How I-"

Shouichi abruptly stood up, the screech of his chair deafening him from Byakuran's following words as his cheeks heated up more. "Byakuran-san, don't. Just don't, please."

Byakuran continued pouting like the petulent child he was, but he said no more. He didn't need to when his eyes spoke the words for him.

Shouichi shuddered.

Just what had he gotten himself into?


	8. Date a lá Byakuran, part I

**title:** Two Can Play This Game, chapter 7

**characters:** Byakuran, Irie Shouichi, Ghost (only shortly)

**summary:** The daaaaaate. A part of it, anyhow.

**notes:** I am the biggest sap in the world, so beware. I will overuse clichés a lot.

* * *

**Chapter 7: **Date a lá Byakuran (part 1)

* * *

"A date?"

Ghost's voice was distinctively disgruntled, and Shouichi sighed. Two Gesso family members in his life was simply too much sometimes – nerve-grating, stomach-lurching even.

Shouichi didn't look at Ghost as he smoothed the wrinkles from his button-up shirt and buckled the belt that held his dark jeans up, a small click indicating his success.

He felt nervous, from what he could tell from the feather-like tingling in his stomach that kept fluttering higher and higher in there. Butterflies. Right, that was a better word to use here.

Butterflies in his stomach, Shouichi glanced at Ghost, _finally._ "I forgot to mention," Shouichi said sheepishly, hands raised in an apologetic gesture as Ghost's eyebrows knit together in confusion and perhaps disapproval. "Byakuran-san insisted after winning at Choice..." Shouichi trailed off, and a small furrow between his brows told Ghost just how dismayed Shouichi was at this whole affair.

It was an early Friday evening, and Shouichi was preparing for his date with Byakuran, with anxiety and nervousness hanging heavily in the air – along with some muted indignation from Ghost, which went unnoticed by the red-haired student.

Ghost frowned at the silent expectation that oozed from Shouichi's voice, although he wasn't sure whether his roommate was aware of it or not. Probably not, considering how dense Shouichi could be about these sorts of things – according to Byakuran, at least.

Ghost quietly mulled over this sensation that tugged at his heartstrings painfully, hard enough for his chest to ache. It was a strange, numbing feeling he got when he watched Shouichi prepare himself for the evening he'd inevitably spend with Byakuran – was this jealousy?

Ghost had heard of that emotion before, and if he were to analytically analyze the reactions in his body and mind, he'd reach the conclusion that yes, he was jealous.

But he wasn't going to do that.

Why?

Well, maybe because even though he knew that he sort of felt attracted to Shouichi (and a lot of other emotions for Byakuran), Shouichi was attracted to Byakuran in return, even if Shouichi didn't acknowledge that fact yet.

Ghost sighed as he leaned his back against the wall next to his bed, head lolling slightly to a side as he inspected Shouichi's profile from a side, taking in every inch of the redhead, every nervous fidget Shouichi made, and every stroke that ran through that peculiarly bright red hair.

Shouichi wasn't bothered by the silence that fell between them either as he checked for the umpteenth time that he had everything he needed with him: a wallet, an ID (just in case), and the key to the dorm. After confirming that everything was indeed where they should be, Shouichi sighed once before adjusting his shirt's collar a little more.

Ghost crossed his arms, and his lips curled into a tiny pout as he looked away from Shouichi as his stomach turned inside him strangely, twisting his internal organs in a painful way. Jealousy? Oh, definitely; the feeling was enough to distract Ghost from the book he had recently purchased from a nearby bookstore where he often spent his afternoons when Shouichi wasn't around.

"Shouichi, you shouldn't have to obey brother's whims just because of that..." he eventually murmured, hesitantly because he knew it wasn't his place to speak. Then again – Byakuran would have protested at the slightest possibility of Shouichi ever going on a date with someone other than himself.

Shouichi glanced at Ghost, and something akin to confusion crossed his face as he fiddled with his clothes for a moment or two. "Ghost-san?"

"Brother's whims," Ghost murmured and he seemed to deflate a little more on the bed the longer Shouichi gazed at him, "are..."

Shouichi cut him off with a wave of his hand, a slight furrow between his brows. Something about Ghost's behaviour bothered him, even though Ghost acted pretty much the same as he always did – considerate and quiet, if not a tad withdrawn. So, what was this about?

"I know him well enough to know his whims, Ghost-san," he said with a crooked and slightly exasperated yet fond smile. "I also know when he won't give up on something. When he wants something that much, it's-"

Shouichi paused as he registered his own words, his heart coming a painful halt. _When he wants something that much...?_

His heart leaped in his chest, drumming against his ribs a tad bit too quickly. Did he just acknowledge that Byakuran _wanted_ him?

It had been an innocent thought, spurred by the moment, but now he had to stop and think about his own remark while his insides seemed intent on squirming and twisting nauseously. Oh, he was _not acknowledging_ it, no, no...

Besides, there was an even bigger issue at hand, he had to admit to himself as colour flooded his cheeks, warmth spreading all over his face. His body's reactions to the thought of _Byakuran_ wanting him, genuinely liking him more than just a friend, for starters were really befuddling – his heart seemed to speed up, going way over the speed limit it was supposed to obey, and the hot flush that tingled his face, neck _and_ ears.

The memory of Byakuran's hands rubbing at his stomach came to his mind, but he pushed it away before he could even start analyzing what _that_ had meant on Byakuran's account. Before he could try to bring that sensation of Byakuran's fingers on his skin back to his mind.

_Don't over-analyze things,_ he told himself as he shook his head vehemently. _It's better not to get your hopes up for nothing._

"It's...?" Ghost's quiet voice urged him to continue, pulling Shouichi away from the way-too-out-there thoughts that he assumed/hoped/_wished _were as obscure as the possibility of aliens.

"Never mind, never mind," Shouichi hurried to say, his voice a little choked as he straightened himself fully. "I guess I'm off now, then," he murmured. Luckily Byakuran hadn't insisted on picking him up from the dormitory. That would have made the situation all the more awkward and stressing and even more _real_.

Ghost nodded absently, purple eyes clouded and expression withdrawn. "See you later, Shouichi..."

Shouichi, despite having the smarts and mind beyond brilliance, was notably bad with understanding the way people's feelings worked – this was one of those instances.

* * *

Even if Byakuran had told him that he wouldn't pick him up from the dormitory, he was still there, behind the door that opened to the grassy yard that stretched on over the center of the student campus. Shouichi didn't know what to think of it, especially with his former thoughts still pressing at the back of his mind with great insistence, and he certainly couldn't hide his startled reaction upon seeing Byakuran – he'd like to think that it was mostly because of Byakuran's clothes, the way that tattered shirt revealed a bit of Byakuran's collarbone and a lot of pale, unblemished neck and the way those ripped jeans hugged Byakuran's legs and thighs and _why was he even looking at Byakuran like this._

"White looks good on you, Shou-chan," Byakuran commented idly as Shouichi met his gaze, something flickering in the depths of warm violet. It was that look that had Shouichi's stomach in tight, squeezing knots, and he, unwillingly, flushed.

"I thought I told you that you didn't need to pick me up," Shouichi managed to say dumbly as he gathered his composure again while ignoring the hand that pressed against his lower back to guide Shouichi to where Byakuran wanted them to go.

"Ah, don't be like that, Shou-chan," Byakuran chuckled airily as the chilly wind of early evening passed them, tickling at their skin and swaying their hair, the warmth of the early evening sun radiating down on them. "Unless you want to walk all the way to the place I have in mind, mm?" Pale lips quirked up, and Shouichi found himself straightening a bit more in haste.

"Ah, so we're taking your car, then?" Shouichi was absolutely _horrified_ by the idea; Byakuran was a horrible, _horrible_ driver. Well – not in the sense as some drivers were, but in the sense of _slow the fuck down, Byakuran-san, and look at the road!_

Although Byakuran did keep his eyes on the most of the time, the sheer speed he drove at was more than enough to send Shouichi into a world of pain, all too literally as his stomach would quiver and ache as he'd worry over whether either of them would live through the experience.

"Hmhm," Byakuran made a humming sound as his violet eyes peered at Shouichi's troubled expression with great amusement. "Is there something wrong with that, Shou-chan?" Byakuran detached his hand from Shouichi's lower back when they entered the parking lot without Shouichi having to say anything – not that he had minded the touch, in the first place.

But Byakuran didn't need to know that, right?

"You _know_ how I feel about your driving, Byakuran-san," Shouichi groaned as he waited for Byakuran to unlock the doors to his near-white sports car that always seemed to be flawlessly clean, which itself was mystifying.

Byakuran hummed as he opened the door to the passenger's side, gesturing Shouichi to get inside with that grin plastered onto his face like this was the best day in his entire life – so childishly happy that it sent Shouichi's heart into overdrive.

_Why am I even reacting like this?_

It must be the concept of this being a _date_ that made him feel so strange. That had to be it.

"Oh, don't be spoil all the fun now, Shou-chan," Byakuran crooned as he stepped aside to let Shouichi in, his hand briefly touching Shouichi's wrist when the redhead climbed into the passenger seat. "Have I ever gotten into an accident before?"

Shouichi opened his mouth to answer; Byakuran's lips curled down slightly.

"Let me rephrase that, Shou-chan – have I ever gotten into a car accident when you're riding with me?"

Shouichi pursed his lips as he gave a fairly unimpressed look at Byakuran before climbing into the car. "Well, no, but how does that have anything to do with-"

"It has a _lot_ to do with it," Byakuran proclaimed with a grin that could possibly break his face as he closed the door for Shouichi before skipping off to the driver's side of the car and getting in as well.

"I drive extra carefully when Shou-chan's with me, you see~," Byakuran chirped as Shouichi buckled his seatbelt. The Italian made no effort to do so – and Shouichi sighed, not even bothering to _try_ anymore.

"Extra carefully, _right,_" Shouichi groaned when Byakuran turned the engine on, the following roar nearly deafening Shouichi and effectively drowning his words into the noise. If extra carefully meant going slightly slower but still fast enough to give even the most vigorous police officer on duty an aneurysm, then sure, Byakuran certainly did that.

"...Where are we going, Byakuran-san?" Shouichi asked once Byakuran had droven them away from the campus' parking lot, green eyes now moving idly to look at Byakuran's jovial profile – at that especially bright smile that could, figuratively, blind people.

Yes, that one big dazzling grin that was on equal terms with Yamamoto Takeshi's matching smile.

Really, there should a law about blinding smiles, Shouichi mused as he stared at the curved-up lips and the shiny violet eyes that peered at him smugly-

Wait.

"Eyes to the road!" Shouichi screeched, but not without a blush as he threw himself against the door at his side due to the surprise. His elbow may have hit the door a bit too hard if the pain shooting up his arm was of any indication.

Byakuran's tinkling laughter – so soothing but so _irritating_ at the same time – didn't help the situation in the lest as Byakuran's foot pressed the accelerator a little too hard, causing the car to speed up and Shouichi to yelp in fear.

(Shut up. You'd be surprised by the statistics of traffic-related deaths.)

"Don't be afraid, Shou-chan," Byakuran said cheerfully, eyes now back on the road, as his one hand reached out to pat Shouichi's thigh. _Way. Too. Intimately._

"Hands on the wheel," Shouichi wheezed, face stuck in a panicked expression as he pushed Byakuran's hand away and shuffled back on his seat. Thank God for seatbelts, honestly. "Hands on the wheel, and they'd better _stay_ there."

Byakuran laughed again, head tilting back and eyes narrowing into slits before they closed (evoking yet _another_ screech from Shouichi) because this was just _too_ amusing.

Too bad Shouichi failed to see that.

* * *

He never did get an answer to his question as to where they were going, not before they reached the place at least, which happened approximately fifteen minutes of horrible driving and breaking every possible traffic regulation in the _world._ (How come the police never stopped them was absolutely _beyond_ him and his understanding, but he supposed he ought to be grateful to not be lumped together with his lunatic friend-or-whatever-Byakuran-was.)

"We're here~," Byakuran's sing-songy voice alerted Shouichi (as did the sudden screech of the brakes) that _yes, the ride from hell was over and done with._

If he were any less of a man (cue the laughter from the audience of a comedy), he would have wailed and sang Hallelujah to the skies.

Alas, he was rational and did not do so.

(The fact that there was the ride back looming in his future may have helped in squenching his joy _just a little_.)

And then his attention shifted, as he got out of the car a little too quickly and nearly tripping over his shaking legs, towards the relatively small and almost homey-looking building with warm, muted colours of red and indigo that blended together to form purple from time to time, and then there was that sigh with muted fluorescent letters – _Homer's Café,_ it said.

"You took me to a café?"

Byakuran raised a slender finger over his lips, hushing him. "You'll see when we get in, Shou-chan." There was a strange quality to Byakuran's voice that made Shouichi instinctively listen, and he even allowed Byakuran to grasp his hand and tug him along. "Surprises are nice, aren't they?"

There was so much wrong in that statement dressed as a question, but Shouichi kept his mouth shut as he followed Byakuran into the building – Byakuran flashed a card at the man beside the door, who then let them in with a curt, wordless nod – and once inside, he had to stop and stare.

The café's interior design was simple at best – one vast space for the tables and at the side was the counter and the backroom for the waiters and whatnot – but the dim lightning and the wafting scents of cinnamon and apple and something far more exquisite more than made up for the lack of fine architecture.

Shouichi's eyes wander to the front of the vast room, towards the small stage where a microphone stood, along with several instruments at which Shouichi stared.

"This is-"

Byakuran smiled indulgently as he squeezed Shouichi's hand gently yet playfully. "I knew how you love music," he said as he led Shouichi to one of the small, for-two tables and pulled a chair out for him as if he were a gentleman doing so for a woman on a first or thirteenth day ('cause chivalry shouldn't die simply because you get laid). Shouichi didn't mind, not particularly, because it was almost _nice_ to be treated like he was the most important person in the room, in the whole _city. _

"And I know you like discovering fresh new talent," Byakuran continued as he sat down as well, across from Shouichi, fingers dangling underneath his chin as he peered at Shouichi like he was the most interesting thing the place had to offer. "So, I decided that this was the _perfect_ place for our first date." Byakuran's hand reached out and pulled Shouichi's hand closer before linking their fingers together.

Shouichi caught the key word within that sentence, and his neck burned with flush that crept there. "_First_?" he repeated almost dully, but he couldn't deny the fidgety feeling in his stomach.

Byakuran's purple eyes narrowed pleasantly, that undying twinkle brightening in the hues. "Oops, did I say too much?" he wondered, fingers curling around Shouichi's and thumb caressing the side of Shouichi's hand.

The gesture, Shouichi noted with a hot feeling creeping to his ears, was – darehesayit – inexplicably _comfortable _and nice; that slight brush of a fingertip against the soft skin, right above one of the bones of his fingers.

But that didn't distract him from what Byakuran had said. "What makes you think I'd be willing to go to a second one?" Shouichi questioned – or rather, breathed out sharply as Byakuran's thumb moved to the back of his hand, fingers releasing their hold a little bit.

Byakuran grinned at him; straight, white teeth peeking from underneath the perfectly shaped lips. "Would Shou-chan _really_ deny me if he stopped to think about what he wants, ne?" The thumb pressed down on Shouichi's skin, rubbing circular motions on it gently, and Shouichi was pretty sure none of the touches Byakuran gave him in public had never felt this intimate before.

_What I want?_

Shouichi's lips parted to argue with Byakuran, but that thought stopped him on his tracks. What he _wanted_?

Byakuran offered him an indulgent smile before leaning back on his chair and pulling his hand away from Shouichi's, and for a moment, the loss of contact was almost upsetting.

"Anyway," Byakuran drawled, eyes shifting towards the stage where a few people were already buzzing about. "Want to order something before they start, Shou-chan? They have the _best_ cupcakes I have ever had, you know."

He smiled weakly at Byakuran's words as he pulled his own hand away from the table, still bit unnerved by his own reactions to both Byakuran's words and touch. It just wasn't... _normal_.

"Uh, what do they offer-"

Byakuran nodded his head towards the menu on the table, smiling expectantly as Shouichi took it and inspected it.

Cappuccino, latter, vanilla latte... iced black tea, hot tea... different bentos and so on... and a very vast dessert section, of course, he thought wryly as his eyes raked through the list of options he had. Muffins, cupcakes, cream puffs... there were many options for someone like Byakuran who loved sweets about as much as ripped clothing.

"Um," Shouichi made a noncommittal noise in his throat. He hadn't eaten dinner, so he might as well hame some bento, right? And then for dessert, some cheesecake, maybe... Shouichi might not have much of a sweet tooth, but cheesecakes were his favourites, courtesy of his mother.

"Okay, I have decided," Shouichi said, nodding a bit to himself as he put the menu down before raising his head up to see Byakuran's eyes on him with lips curved into a gentle smile, which in turn made his eyes softer than what Shouichi was used to.

Again, he paused.

_What's wrong with me-?_

Shouichi shook his head as Byakuran gestured for one of the waitresses to come around. Getting overly nervous and hyper aware of everything wasn't going to help him with getting through this, and he knew it.

Bringing his attention back to the situation, he watched as Byakuran made his order with a dazzling and swoon-inducing smile directed at the waitress (who attempted to keep a straight face, but her cheeks were flaming red), which made Shouichi's stomach lurch all the more. Huh, where had his appetite gone to?

Shouichi made his own order quietly, distractedly as he tried to put his slightly perturbed and distraught emotions aside. He had _never_ been jealous over something as small as this – or was it even jealousy? Shouichi shifted uncomfortably at that thought, and his eyes went to the stage just as the light dimmed a bit and the people around them quieted down as well.

"It's starting," Byakuran murmured, pretense obliviousness for the emotions evoked within the redhead, and again those violet eyes softened – noticeable even in the dim lights of the café.

Shouichi nodded dumbly in response, unable to get the sick thought that the dimmed lights made this much more like a real date.

His thoughts came to a startling halt when the first strings of guitar were plucked and the first notes wafted through the room; a calming melody that soothed one's heart but at the same time made it beat all the faster because _this sounded terribly close to a love song._

"Byakuran-san?" he questioned, cheeks flaming red at the soft melody, eye widening as some people stood from the tables and went to the center of the room – the tables were located on the sides of the room, the middle was empty – and hands went to hips and shoulders and other hands and then legs moved about slowly, back and forth. Slow-dancing.

"What is this?" Shouichi asked, hand clutching at the fabric on his knee, and he had hard time even looking at Byakuran's face right as embarrassment burned not only his face but his insides as well. Did Byakuran expect him to _dance_ with him- and what was with this sudden romantic atmosphere- sure, sure, it was expected since this _was_ a date but it wasn't a _real_ one since Byakuran hadn't even asked him, he had _demanded_ it from him and-

A warm hand covering his own startled Shouichi away from his frantic, distressed thoughts, and then his cheeks heated up again. Oh, God, why was he acting like a lovestruck teenager...

Warm violet eyes held his gaze, something unspeakable reflecting from those unnaturally coloured depths.

"Shou-chan, do you not like it?" There was something in Byakuran's voice that tugged at Shouichi's heartstrings almost painfully – perhaps it was the quiet disappointment that seeped into Byakuran's tone, probably unintentionally.

(...He really had it bad for Byakuran, didn't he?)

"It's not that," Shouichi managed to say as he curled his fingers tentatively against Byakuran's hand before entwining them with the longer fingers, the warmth of the touch once more invading his sense of touch. "It's just... this place... it's for..."

"It's for dates, of course," Byakuran said, frowning a little bit as he inched closer to the table and Shouichi as his fingers tightened around Shouichi's. "Shou-chan does know that this _is_ a date, right?"

"Umm, yeah, but I thought-"

"That I was _joking_? Shou-chan, please give me _some_ credit..."

"I just- I don't-"

"Shou-chan, _relax._ I'm not going to make you dance with me if you don't want to." _It's much better when you want to dance with me, after all._

"Byakuran-san, that's... it's just that I figured that you'd take me out to movies or something..."

Byakuran snorted and his lips twitched up into an amused smile as his thumb resumed what it had been doing earlier – stroking at the back of Shouichi's hand so gently, as if trying to memorize how it felt.

"First dates," he begun slowly, _warmly_, and weakly amused by Shouichi's words, "are supposed to be special, Shou-chan." The thumb pressed down on Shouichi's hand a bit, rubbing. "And it's with Shou-chan, so I wanted to make it extra special." Byakuran leaned over the table, eyes on Shouichi's face. "Because Shou-chan is special to me," he said softly, lips forming a tender smile that Shouichi hadn't seen all that often and the sheer genuine feeling that shone through from that smile made his body react in the most annoying and unnerving ways.

"Byakuran-san..." Shouichi couldn't help but stare at Byakuran's face, couldn't help but feel extra aware of their hands pressing together, couldn't help but feel blood rushing all over to his cheeks and ears and, oh, how his neck burned.

"Shou-chan, I really like you, so won't you just give it a chance?" Byakuran murmured quietly, his words barely audible over the love song that echoed in the room. "Please, Shou-chan." Violet hues bore into him, and Shouichi held his breath, hesitating.

What should he say...?


End file.
